RIT honors 10 alumni for exceptional achievements

RIT’s first Volunteer of the Year was named during the annual ceremony honoring the Outstanding and Distinguished Alumni during the Brick City Festival/Alumni Weekend celebration.

2003 Alumni Award recipients are, from left, Paul Melnychuck '84, Anthony Amorese '48, Daniel Bader '87, Brian Hall '78, Susan Wolf-Downes '71, Michael Dugan '78, Julianne Klie '89, Bernard Boston '55, Kenneth Reed '71, and Robert Craig Jr. '93.

Kenneth J. Reed ’71 (College of Science) became the first recipient of the award for outstanding volunteer service. Daniel J. Bader ’87 (College of Business) was honored as RIT’s Outstanding Alumnus for 2003. The Distinguished Alumni, one for each of RIT’s eight colleges, are: Julianne Klie ’89, B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences; Michael T. Dugan ’78, College of Applied Science and Technology; Brian H. Hall ’78, College of Business; Bernard N. Boston ’55, College of Imaging Arts and Sciences; Robert E. Craig Jr. ’76, ’93, College of Liberal Arts; Paul W. Melnychuck ’84, College of Science; Anthony J. Amorese ’48, Kate Gleason College of Engineering; Susan J. Wolf-Downes ’71, National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

Kenneth Reed is a research associate in the Emulsion Technology Division of the Research Laboratories, Eastman Kodak Company. In 2000, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from RIT’s College of Science and currently serves as chair of the RIT Alumni Network Board of Directors. He’s also an RIT trustee.

Daniel J. Bader is president of the Helen Bader Foundation. A Milwaukee native, Bader is the chair of the Greater Milwaukee Committee and is active in numerous philanthropic and educational organizations. An RIT trustee, Bader is chairman of Granite Microsystems Inc. and a director of Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals.

Julianne Klie is president and CEO of Veritor Executive Advisors, a Rochester consulting company. She is co-founder of Digital Rochester, an association of more than 3,000 technology professionals, and also of SpringBoard Rochester, an association providing seminars and coaching for businesses.

Michael T. Dugan is president and chief operating officer of Echostar Communications Corp., a provider of direct broadcast satellite TV equipment and services to customers worldwide. Previously, Dugan was vice president of engineering for Tandon Corp., as well as director of product marketing and director of engineering. He worked at Xerox Corp. for 15 years.

Brian H. Hall is president and CEO of Thomson Legal & Regulatory, a division of The Thomson Corp. Thomson Legal & Regulatory provides services to legal, tax, accounting, intellectual property, compliance and business professionals around the world. He serves on the boards of many civic organizations, including the RIT Board of Trustees.

Bernard N. Boston worked in the Washington, D.C., area for most of his career as a photojournalist and retired from Washington bureau of The Los Angeles Times in 1993. In 2000, he and his wife, Peggy, purchased the Bryce Mountain Courier in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Among many honors, Boston received the National Press Photographers Association Joseph A. Sprague Memorial Award, the organization’s highest honor, in 1993.

Robert E. Craig Jr., director of RIT’s campus safety department for three years, is a veteran of the Rochester Police Department. Among many awards, Craig is especially proud of being the first recipient of the RPD’s Community Service Award, presented on his retirement. He received his M.S. in RIT’s career and human resource development program.

Paul W. Melnychuck is producer and president of Too Far Music in Woodside, Calif., and works with his wife, Karen, at Minds On Hold, a music production, record label and design firm. Melnychuck, who earned a B.S. in chemistry and an M.S. in imaging science at RIT, holds seven patents in the area of digital signal processing.

Anthony J. Amorese worked in engineering and management positions at a number of companies including Rittenhouse Co. Inc., Emerson Electric Co. and Universal Machinery Corp. In 1978 he acquired Redie Laundry and Cleaners Inc., a commercial firm that he expanded from 15 to 150 workers before selling the company and retiring in 1991.

Susan J. Wolf-Downes is executive director of the Northeast Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Inc. in Concord, N.H. She is a member of the board of trustees for New England Homes for the Deaf in Danvers, Mass., and chairs the administrative board of Our Deaf Sister’s Center, a domestic violence/sexual assault advocacy group in Boston.