10/13/98
ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio University Alumni Association will honor nine individuals for significant achievements and outstanding service to Ohio University at the annual Homecoming Alumni Awards Reception and Banquet at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, in Nelson Commons on the Athens campus.
B.T. "Tad" Grover Jr., a 1950 graduate of Ohio University and an emeritus trustee of the Ohio University Foundation Board, will be honored as the 1998 Alumnus of the Year. The retired chairman and chief executive officer of Bank One in Athens, Grover served on Athens City Council for 12 years and is a former chairman of the Athens County United Appeal Drive. In 1989, he received the Alumni Association's Medal of Merit for Acheivement in Business and Service to Alma Mater. He is a former member of the College of Business Executive Advisory Board and a former member of the Alumni Board of Directors.
Richard Vedder, Ann B. Harris and Ann Grover have been named honorary alumni and will also be honored at the banquet.
Vedder, a distinguished professor of economics at Ohio University with 33 years of teaching experience, has been recognized with the Distinguished Professor, University Professor, and Distinguished Teaching awards. He has written six books on economic theory and practice as well as research studies for the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.
Harris has been an integral member of the Ohio University Libraries' National Advisory Council and the Latin American Studies Program for more than four years. An Athens resident, she spearheaded the successful campaign to establish Ohio University as the official repository of government documents of Guatemala.
Grover has supported a number of university projects, including interior design for the Visitor's Center (Bingham House) and Claire Cottage behind Konneker Alumni Center. She is a member of the Ohio University Women's Club and is the wife "Tad" Grover Jr.
Five Ohio University alumni will be honored with Medal of Merit Awards for support of the university and charitable and professional accomplishments. They are Bonna Price DeMarco, David Neal Keller, Howard E. Nolan, Stanley Plumly and C. David Snyder.
DeMarco, a 1965 graduate, has been a member of the Ohio University Women's Club of Greater Cleveland since 1968 and now serves as treasurer. During her term as president, the club added a second scholarship and increased its participation in the Trustees Academy. She is a retail sales professional and former owner of two women's specialty clothing stores. She has served on the university's Board of Directors, the executive board of the Ohio University Women's Club and has been awarded the Ohio University Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award. DeMarco will be honored for service to her alma mater.
Keller, a 1950 graduate and the former president of David Keller Productions, will be honored for his acheivement in communications. He is a writer and producer who has written 96 scripts for motion pictures and videos, 42 of which he also produced, receiving five national film awards. A regular contributor to national magazines and author of five books, he assisted the Russ College of Engineering and Technology in producing videos, brochures and newsletters. He also wrote biographies of several Ohio University philanthropists. A former newspaperman, Keller was the university's director of public relations from 1954 to 1964.
Nolan, a 1957 graduate, co-founded the architectural, engineering and planning firm of Moody/Nolan Ltd. In 1982. The firm's projects have included expansions at airports in Orlando and Columbus, the university's Copeland Hall and Wright State University's Nutter Center. He will be honored for his acheivement in engineering. Nolan is a member of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology Board of Visitors, the Minority Engineering Advisory Board and the Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees. He is a former university trustee. He and his wife, Trudy, have established a Russ College scholarship and are members of the Trustees Academy.
Plumly, who will be honored for his acheivement in the arts, is a 1967 graduate and a renowned poet and author of seven books of poetry. He is a member of the English department faculty at the University of Maryland at College Park. Plumly has been awarded the Delmore Schwartz Memorial Award, the Guggenheim Award, three National Endowment for the Arts grants and seven Pushcart Prizes. He has been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the William Carlos Williams Award. His poetry has appeared and been reviewed in such publications as The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, New York Times and Kenyon Review.
Snyder, a 1974 graduate, will be honored for his acheivement in business. He is the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of REALOGIC, a $30 million, internationally known technology consulting and systems integration firm in Cleveland. REALOGIC was listed in Inc. magazine's ranking of the 500 fastest growing companies in 1997. Snyder is a member of the Virtual Learning Advisory Committee and the College of Business Executive Advisory Board. Snyder recently established and funded the REALOGIC Student Organization Program, which provides financial support for student professional organizations in the College of Business.