The MTU Alumni Association has announced its award winners for 1998. Every year, the association presents awards to alumni and friends of the University for service and career distinction.
The awards will be presented at the annual alumni awards dinner, held August 7 during the Alumni Reunion.
Receiving Outstanding Young Alumni Awards will be Doug Harris '86 and Rebecca (Rowe) Smits '86. Harris has a BS in Biological Sciences and is currently director of powertools engineering for the Instruments Division at Stryker Corporation, a major manufacturer of medical instruments and supplies, in Kalamazoo. He is a member of the Sciences and Arts Advisory Board and has been involved in developing a biomedical engineering program at the University.
Smits received a BS in Geological Engineering and is president, managing engineer, and majority shareholder of Inland Seas Engineering, a civil and environmental engineering and surveying firm with offices in Traverse City, Suttons Bay, and Flushing. She employs a number of MTU graduates, is active in the Alumni Association, and serves on Governor John Engler's Northwest Michigan Workforce Development Board.
Distinguished Alumni Awards will be given to Martin Caserio '36, and James Klungness '49. Ted Rozsa '36, received a Distinguished Alumnus Award earlier this year. Caserio received a BS in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and, after a long career with General Motors, retired in 1981 as vice president and assistant to the president. A past chair of the MTU Board of Control, he established a scholarship to benefit students from the Copper Country, is a member of the Second Century Society, and is a life trustee and founding member of the Michigan Tech Fund. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the 1982 ASM Medal for Advancement of Research.
Klungness received a BS in Electrical Engineering with honors and is currently president of Cable Constructors in Iron Mountain. He received the Board of Control Silver Medal in 1990 and is a member of the Hubbell Society, having made a major gift to support the construction of the Center for the Performing Arts. In addition, he established the Klungness Endowed Scholarship Fund in 1991. Among his community activities, he is a director of First National Bank of Iron Mountain, past president of the Iron Mountain School Board, and serves on the Michigan State Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
Rozsa was the highest ranking student in the department when he earned his BS in Geology. His long career in oil exploration began with Shell and he is now president and owner of Rozsa Petroleum in Calgary, Alberta. Rozsa has given generously to support the Center for the Performing Arts, the Department of Geological Engineering and Sciences, Walker, and the Ted Rozsa Endowed Scholarship. He is a member of the Hubbell Society and the Geological Engineering and Sciences Academy, and received the MTU Board of Control Silver Medal in 1988. Rozsa is also known for his support of the arts and education in Calgary.
Outstanding Service Awards will be given to Dave Hongisto, Dewaine Olson '61, Gary Stocker '77, and Sharlyn (Shar) Stocker '79. Hongisto, an equipment operator III on the grounds crew, will be honored for all the behind-the-scenes support he provides that makes University events run smoothly. Hongisto has been on the MTU staff since 1976.
Olson received his BS in Business Administration and is now retired from his position as senior vice president of finance, Equifax Information Services, in Atlanta. Olson volunteers as the Michigan Tech Fund's chief financial officer, is a member of the School of Business and Economics National Advisory Board, and is a member of the Presidents Society and the McNair Society.
Stocker received his BS in Civil Engineering and is now civil engineering manager for Site Consultants, in Tempe, Arizona, where he is also president of the local chapter of the MTU Alumni Association.
Stocker attended MTU and later earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University. She is senior development engineer for Durel Corporation in Chandler, Arizona, and is president of the local chapter of the MTU Alumni Association.
Receiving Honorary Alumni Awards will be Mario Fontana and Joe Kirkish. Fontana, now retired, taught aviation at the then-Michigan College of Mining and Technology and is currently a member of the Presidents Society and the Second Century Society. He has a long and storied history in aviation, and in 1938 was the first pilot to fly the mail route out of the Upper Peninsula.
Kirkish is a professor emeritus of humanities, joining the MTU faculty in 1956. A noted photographer, he also was director of WGGL and now promotes the Club Indigo fundraisers, which support the Calumet Theatre, on behalf of Mu Beta Psi honorary music fraternity.