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D&E to honor five alumni at homecoming

Seybolt

ELKINS — Davis & Elkins College will honor five of its alumni for their significant achievements and contributions to the College during the annual Founders’ Day convocation at 3 p.m. Friday in Myles Center for the Arts Harper-McNeeley Auditorium. The ceremony is part of Homecoming and Family Weekend and is open to the public.

Two new awards were created this year, the Davis & Elkins College Crystal Mace Award and the Senators Community Service Award.

Considered the college’s most prestigious award, the Crystal Mace Award is presented in recognition of transformational leadership, service and/or character, and of unparalleled gifts of time, talent and/or treasure. Faculty Emeritus Dr. Gloria M. Payne is the first recipient of the award and will be honored for her extraordinary commitment and profound impact on Davis & Elkins College students and the community through her service from 1945 to 2016.

The Senators Community Service Award is presented to an alumna or alumnus in recognition of service to their community which resulted in a significant impact. The inaugural recipient is Peter Ullman in recognition of his volunteer work in helping female inmates prepare for life after incarceration.

Additional alumni honorees are: Richard C. Seybolt, Distinguished Alumnus; Robin White Rybczynski, Tower Award; and Kathryn R. Owsianiecki Hartmann, Outstanding Young Alumna.

Hartmann

∫ Two years after earning her Bachelor of Arts degrees in business and English, Payne found herself back at D&E. In 1945, she was invited to instruct summer school classes and for the decades that followed, she never viewed her job as “work.”

In her distinguished career, she served the College for 71 years.

Payne continued her education earning a Master of Arts degree in English from West Virginia University in 1970. She also holds a Master of Business Administration and Ph.D. in business from the University of Pittsburgh. She completed additional studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, New York, University of Pittsburgh, WVU, New York University, East Carolina University, Marshall University and the Washington School of Protocol in Washington, D.C. Payne also holds certifications as modeling instructor from World Modeling Association and the Wheeler Fashion School, design appearance consultant from the World Modeling Association, interior decorator from the New York School of Design and protocol certification from the Washington School of Protocol.

As chair of the Business and Economics Department, Payne developed 18 business programs at D&E including fashion merchandising, health care administration, hospitality management, real estate, marketing and international management, among others.

She connected her students and the business community through honorary organizations and the Beta Alpha Beta Annual Awards Banquet, along with “An Evening with Business” and “Project Interview,” which provided students an opportunity to meet and learn from experienced local business

Rybczynski

leaders.

Payne’s work was recognized throughout West Virginia and the nation with honors such as the West Virginia Business Association Outstanding Business Educator of the Year, the West Virginia Women’s Commission Celebrate Women Award and Education Leader of the Year presented by the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education, in addition to dozens of other awards.

The James S. McDonnell Foundation Chair in Business and Economics in honor of Dr. Gloria M. Payne was established in 1986 in gratitude for the education Marcella McDonnell received under Payne’s guidance.

More recently, Payne was selected as grand parade marshal for the Mountain State Forest Festival Grand Feature Parade in 2016.

• Ullman, as an emigrant from Nazi Germany in 1936, never forgot the hardships life can present and how guidance can help individuals overcome difficult circumstances.

Ullman

After graduating magna cum laude from D&E, Ullman went to work for some big names in business and engineering: Bell Aircraft, Hewlett-Packard and Fairchild Semiconductor. At the time he was nearing retirement in 1987, he decided he wanted to make a difference and approached a California women’s correctional facility about how he could help the inmates improve their lives.

For the past 30 years, he has gone to a jail in the San Mateo area weekly to help female inmates with job search skills by working with them to write resumes and participating in mock interviews. On another day, he assists at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.

Ullman’s years of working with the inmates illustrates his generous nature. He and his wife recently established the Peter and Margaret Ullman Scholarship to benefit students of Jewish descent with financial need who demonstrate achievement, leadership and service while in college, and the promise of future service in the world.

• The Distinguished Alumna/us Award is the highest award given to a Davis & Elkins College alumna or alumnus who has made significant contributions to society in his or her career. The criteria for selection include career advancement and related service to others, significant honors in one’s field, and commitment to Davis & Elkins College.

Seybolt earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in management from D&E and was active in the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity. In 1963, he began a long career in the bus and motorhome business, working for major manufacturers and distributors. He has served as national sales manager for Blue Bird Wanderlodge, president and chief executive officer of Newell Coach and retired as chief executive officer of Diamond Coach Corporation in Oswego, Kan.

Payne

Through the years, Seybolt continued his commitment to D&E. An avid golfer, he provided funds to create the year-round Seybolt Indoor Golf Academy in the mezzanine of Martin Field House and chaired two successful D&E Spring Classic golf tournaments in Sebring, Fla. He was instrumental in the College’s purchase of three Senator athletic buses. Seybolt also served on the Board of Trustees from 2011-2016, including a position as vice chair and as chair of the Presidential Succession Committee.

Seybolt also has served his community as a city commissioner in Miami, Oklahoma, a member of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and Grand Lake Public Works Authority, and received a presidential appointment as federal commissioner of Arkansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact.

Active members of the Presbyterian Church, Seybolt and his wife, Arlene, reside at Monkey Island, Oklahoma, and Fort Myers Beach, Florida.

• The Tower Award is presented to a D&E alumna or alumnus for outstanding commitment and service to the College and its alumni programs.

The criteria for selection include volunteering of time, talent and/or funds in support of the numerous student and alumni programs the college offers.

As a student at D&E, Rybczynski was active in various organizations including Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, Beta Alpha Beta honorary business fraternity, Phi Beta Lambda business fraternity, editor-in-chief of Senatus Yearbook, a member of Crossfire Christian Fellowship, Woods Orientation guide and Student Assembly.

Rybczynski’s involvement with D&E didn’t stop with graduation. She became a class agent in 1991 and since 1996 has represented D&E at local college fairs as a member of Alumni, Parents and Recruitment Team (APART).

She was named the Maryland regional alumni coordinator in 1997 and has organized multiple events including parties at her home, a boat cruise around the Inner Harbor and Washington, D.C., winery, brewery and museum visits, plays and ballgames.

She also has attended numerous alumni gatherings for other chapters in New Jersey and New York, Virginia, Philadelphia and Delaware. Rybczynski is a member of the Davis & Elkins College National Alumni Council.

Currently the regional patient coordinator at Vein Clinics of America in Maryland, Rybczynski has worked in various assistant and supervisory roles at health care facilities since receiving an Associate of Science degree in business administration from D&E. She resides in Nottingham, Md.

• The Outstanding Young Alumna/us Award is presented to a young alumna or alumnus who graduated within the last 10 years and shows promise in his or her profession, including professional achievements and honors, community service/service to others, and commitment to the College.

As a student, Hartmann was a student ambassador and peer leader, resident assistant, secretary for Student Assembly, contributing writer for The Senator and a member of College Senate, Alpha Psi Omega and Sigma Tau Delta. She experienced the rewards of Greek life as a member of Theta Phi Alpha.

After receiving her bachelor of arts in English at D&E, Hartmann went on to earn a Master of Arts in student affairs in higher education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

She is currently the associate director of fraternity and sorority life at Pace University in Pleasantville, New York., where she oversees all programming sponsored by fraternity and sorority life chapters and develops learning outcomes and assessment plans for fraternity and sorority life, among other duties. At Pace University, she previously served as assistant director of Greek life.

Prior to working at Pace University, Hartmann was employed at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pa., where she was community coordinator for Greek Life and then assistant director for Leadership and New Student Programs.

Hartmann also is a volunteer coordinator for the Northeast Greek Leadership Association, national vice president, collegians, for Theta Phi Alpha Fraternity and a professional member of the Association of Fraternity and Sorority Advisors. She resides in Danbury, Conn.

Homecoming and Family Weekend will take place Friday through Sunday throughout campus.

For a complete schedule of events, visit www.dewv.edu/homecoming-weekend.

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