Longtime RIT Trustee Burton August also honored as Volunteer of
the Year
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| Brian Chontosh '00 was named RIT's Outstanding
Alumnus for 2005. His wife, Joy, and son, Colby, attended the
February award events. Photo by Ken Huth '88. |
Brian R. Chontosh ’00 (mechanical engineering technology)
is RIT’s Outstanding Alumnus for 2005. Seven other alumni
received Distinguished Alumni honors and a long-time RIT trustee
was named Volunteer of the Year at the Alumni Awards Celebration
in February.
Chontosh, a Rochester area native, attended RIT while serving
in the U.S. Marine Corps. He received a Navy Cross, the nation’s
second-highest honor for valor, after a 2003 enemy ambush in
Iraq. Chontosh, a captain, is currently assigned to the Marine
Infantry Institute in Quantico, Va.
Burton S. August, an RIT trustee since 1984 and longtime
supporter of the university, is Volunteer of the Year. August and
his brother, Charles, were instrumental in establishing RIT’s
Interfaith Center and the August Center housing student health
and counseling services. He is retired vice president and past
director of Monro Muffler Brake Inc.
 |
| From left are Ronald Ricotta, Brian Chontosh,
Brian O’Shaughnessy, Renee Macklin, Manny Marcano Jr.,
Charles Volpe, Jelica Nuccio and Richard Close Jr. Not pictured:
Burton August, Volunteer of the Year. Photo by Ken Huth ’88. |
The Distinguished Alumni are:
Renee Macklin ’79 (computer information systems),
B. Thomas College of Computing and Information Sciences. Macklin
is chief information officer for the International Trade Administration
within the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C.
Ronald Ricotta ’79 (accounting), College of Business.
Ricotta is president and CEO of Century Mold Co. Inc., an automotive
parts supplier with plants in New York, Tennessee, Ohio and China.
He is also co-CEO of Parlec Inc., a manufacturer of tooling and
tool measuring products. He was a co-founder and is currect director
of E-chx Inc., a national payroll company.
Manny Marcano Jr. ’82 (electrical engineering technology),
College of Applied Science and Technology. He is founder, president
and CEO of EMA Design Automation, a distributor and electronics
industry service provider headquartered in Rochester.
Charles Volpe ’59 (mechanical engineering), Kate
Gleason College of Engineering. Before retiring, Volpe was president
and chief operating officer of KEMET Electronics Corp., Simpsonville,
S.C. He continues to serve as a director of the company and
is active in other business and community organizations.
Richard Close Jr. ’91 (economics), College of Liberal Arts.
Close is managing director, equity research, at Jefferies & Company
Inc., a global investment bank and international securities
firm. He resides in Nashville, Tenn.
Brian O’Shaughnessy ’84 (chemistry), College of Science.
O’Shaughnessy received his law degree from Syracuse University.
He is a partner in the law firm of Burns, Doane, Swecker & Mathis,
L.L.P., Alexandria, Va., where he practices intellectual property
law and patent law. He serves as chairman of RIT’s Alumni
Network Board of Directors and is a member of the RIT Board
of Trustees.
Jelica Nuccio ’88 (biology), National Technical Institute
for the Deaf. Nuccio is currently serving as interim executive
director of Deaf-Blind Service Center, Seattle, Wash. Originally
from Dubrovnik, Croatia, she has devoted her career and volunteer
activities to organizations providing services to the deaf and
blind.
