The Alumni Association has named its slate of officers and new board members for the 2010–2011 academic year.
New officers are Jim Wansacz, president; Michael Staub, vice president; Matt Konetschni, treasurer; and Sandy Koeppl Barsotti, secretary.
Wansacz is a 1994 graduate of IUP with a bachelor's degree in Business Management and a minor in Economics. He currently represents the 114th Legislative District (Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wyoming counties) in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Wansacz, who lives in Old Forge, is beginning his eighth year as a member of the board of directors.
A 1980 graduate of IUP, Staub earned a bachelor's degree in Criminology and is the deputy chief of the Bureau of Investigative Services within the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General's Criminal Law Division in Harrisburg. He was appointed to the board in 2005.
Konetschni earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration in 1995 and a master's degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education in 1998. He is the director of Training Development and Organizational Programs at the Society for Human Resource Management, based in the Washington, D.C., metro area. Konetschni was selected to serve on the board in 2005.
A 1987 graduate, Barsotti has a bachelor's degree in Journalism with a minor in History. A board member since 2006, she is president of Sandy Koeppl Communications in Pittsburgh.
Newly appointed members to the board include Micah Johnson, the CEO of Media Stars Worldwide, based in Phoenix, who majored in Communications Media from 1981–1984, and Rebecca Pounds, DDS, a 2001 graduate of the Robert E. Cook Honors College. She practices dentistry and is the owner of Cantor and Pounds Dental Associates in Pittsburgh.
Other members of the Alumni Association's board of directors include Marcy Tokar Arena, a 1985 graduate from Naples, Fla.; Phillip Carrai, president of Information Technology Solutions in the Kratos Government Solutions Segment of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, a 1983 graduate from Vienna, Va.; Tom Costello, founder and CEO, Upstreme Inc., a 1988 graduate from West Chester; Sandra Hoover Diefenderfer, a 1967 graduate from Great Falls, Va.; Stephanie Lambidakis, reporter and producer, CBS News, a 1981 graduate from Potomac, Md.; Pennsylvania Representative Dave Reed, a 2000 graduate from Indiana; Ryan Renz, finance officer, Indiana First Savings Bank, a 2005 graduate from Indiana; Elaine Tselepis Sheetz, restaurant owner, Trattoria, a 1971 graduate from Great Falls, Va.; Pamela Sledge-Coley, NA DPE product manager, ExxonMobil, a 1997 graduate from Katy, Texas; and Suzy Kuhn Teele, president and COO, Matrix Solutions, a 1982 graduate from Pittsburgh.
“On behalf of the university, I am honored to work with such a talented and dedicated group of people,” said Mary Jo Lyttle, director of Alumni Relations. “They represent the diverse academic majors and varied geographic locations of IUP's more than 115,000 alumni, making this a truly national board of directors. I am thrilled to work with them as we build lifelong relationships with our alumni around the world.”
The Alumni Association aims to enrich the lives of its more than 115,000 alumni and build relationships to advance IUP. It creates outreach initiatives, both on and off campus, to increase involvement among alumni, cultivate relationships, and strengthen alumni pride.
Find more information on the Alumni Association website.