Penn State Announces Alumni Award Winners

5-28-97
University Park, Pa. -- The Alumni Council of the Penn State Alumni Association announced the 1997 alumni award winners at its Annual Awards Ceremony on April 25. The awards recognize outstanding alumni and affiliate groups.

Douglas G. Brown '91 of Nescopeck received the Recent Alumnus/Alumna of the Year Award; Robert N. Grimes '80 of North Potomac, Md. received the Volunteer of the Year Award and Benjamin C. Whitten '43 '48g '61g of Baltimore, Md. received the Outstanding Council Member Award.

Douglas G. Brown is a 1991 graduate with a bachelor's degree in agricultural education and continues to pursue graduate credits in the program. He has received numerous awards including Berwick Rotary Citizen of the Year and the Pennsylvania State Senate Outstanding Young Educator of the Year Award. Brown is a member of the Columbia-Montour Penn State Chapter, a student recruiter for the College of Agricultural Sciences and a Young Teacher Mentor.

Robert N. Grimes is a 1980 graduate in health and human development. He is owner, president and CEO of Synergy Corporation and technology columnist for Nations Restaurant News. In 1994 he established the Grimes-Nicholson Technology Award to promote exposure of Penn State students to technology and decision-making processes in the hospitality industry. Grimes is past president of the Penn State Hotel and Restaurant Society and has provided numerous internships and mentored many Penn State students in the College of Health and Human Development.

Benjamin C. Whitten received degrees from Penn State's College of Education in 1943, 1948 and 1961. A former school teacher and public school administrator, Whitten was also president and CEO of the Baltimore Urban League. He served as director of the minority contractors assistance program and the Baltimore Council of Equal Business Opportunities. He has been active in the Better Business Bureau and the John F. Kennedy Institute for handicapped children.

Other awards included:
-- A community service award for distinguished volunteerism and community service to the Beaver Valley, Greater Chicago and Southern Connecticut Chapters.

-- An athletics award for outstanding athletic programming to the Montgomery County and Metro Washington, DC Chapters.

-- A student interaction award for outstanding support of Penn State students to the Allegheny County and Maine-New Hampshire Chapters.

-- A membership award for record increases to the Triangle Chapter in North Carolina.

-- An outstanding programs award for community outreach to Worthington Scranton Campus Alumni Society and the College of Communications Alumni Society.

-- An affiliate program groups award for outstanding affiliate programming to Penn State Harrisburg's School of Business Graduate Affiliate Program.

-- An alumni interest group award for facilitating the participation of alumni through shared interests to the Greek Alumni Interest Group.

For more information on Penn State Alumni Association events and activities, visit our Web site at http://www.alumni.psu.edu/

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Contact: Karen Wagner (814) 865-7517 (office) (814) 867-0797 (office) kiw1@psu.edu