Twelve to Receive University of Scranton’s O’Hara Awards
The University of Scranton will present its annual Frank J. O’Hara Awards to 12 alumni during Alumni Reunion Weekend June 11-13.
The O’Hara Awards, named for a late administrator who faithfully served the University for 53 years, are the highest honor bestowed jointly by the University and its Alumni Board. The awards recognize Scranton graduates and others who have achieved distinction in their professional or personal endeavors.
The 2010 recipients and the categories in which they were nominated are as follows.
Diane M. Kuehner Schweizer, class of 1990 and chief of EMS Field Operations in the Philadelphia Fire Department, will receive the award for Government Service. Chief Schweizer is the first female chief in the department’s 271-year history. Her responsibilities include overseeing 300 paramedics and 50 Medic Units on approximately 265,000 emergency runs a year. Chief Schweizer, who began her career with the department as a paramedic in 1995, is the ranking command officer who plans, directs, coordinates and supervises all special events. She earned a bachelor of science in mathematics from Scranton and a master’s degree in emergency medical services from Hahnemann/Drexel University. She and her husband, Bill, reside in Philadelphia.
Captain Thomas J. (T.J.) Hromisin of Scranton’s class of 2005 will also receive the award for Government Service. Captain Hromisin attended The University of Scranton on a four-year ROTC scholarship, majoring in criminal justice. In 2005, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army, earned a promotion to First Lieutenant two years later and served as a Mobile Gun System Platoon Leader in the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. During his deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he led his unit on 20 combat patrols. On May 29, 2007, he was critically wounded by a sniper, which resulted in a traumatic brain injury and blindness. In September 2007, he was promoted to Captain and awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge. Captain Hromisin resides in Pittston.
Lawrence J. Morton, D.Ed., of Scranton’s graduate class of 1975, will receive the award for University Service. Dr. Morton began his 40-year career in the Student Affairs Division at The University of Scranton in August 1969 as the institution’s first layperson dean of men. As dean of students for nearly 20 years, he assisted Scranton’s first vice president for student affairs, the late John R. Gavigan, in developing the division into a comprehensive, professional and well-respected program. As executive assistant to the vice president for student affairs during the latter stages of his career, he devoted much effort to initiating and maintaining an assessment program for the division. In awarding him the prestigious Ignatian Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Jesuit Student Affairs, the Jesuit Association of Student Personnel Administrators attached national recognition to his accomplishments in the assessment field. Currently, Dr. Morton volunteers extensively with the Boy Scouts of America. He and his wife Jean Ann reside in Moscow and have a son, Jack.
Peter J. Millett, M.D., M.Sc., of the class of 1990 will receive the award for Medicine. Dr. Millett, a native of Dalton, is a partner at the renowned Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colo., specializing in sports medicine and orthopedic surgery. A decorated orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Millett concentrates on disorders of the shoulder, knee and elbow, as well as sports-related injuries. An avid sports enthusiast, Dr. Millett is a medicine consultant to the country of Bermuda and has treated athletes from the NFL, NBA, MLB, X Games and the Olympics. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Scranton and his medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H., Dr. Millett studied at the University of Cambridge in England, earning a master’s degree in science for his work in skeletal biology. Prior to his work at the Steadman Clinic, Dr. Millett held a faculty appointment at Harvard Medical School and founded and directed the Musculoskeletal Proteomics Research Group at Harvard. He resides in Edwards, Colo., with his wife Sarah and their four children.
Frederick A. Hensley Jr., M.D., of the class of 1975 will also receive the award for Medicine. Dr. Hensley is The Benjamin Monroe Carraway Professor, vice chair and division director of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine. Prior to his appointments at UAB, he was anesthesiologist-in-chief at Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown, N.Y. Previously, Dr. Hensley held academic appointments at Columbia, Johns Hopkins and Penn State universities. In addition, Dr. Hensley is a senior oral board examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology that grants board certification. Dr. Hensley earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from The University of Scranton and his medical degree from Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Hensley and his wife, Theresa, reside in Birmingham, Ala., and have two daughters and a son, who is deceased.
Christopher M. “Kip” Condron of the class of 1970, who also received an honorary degree from Scranton in 2003, will receive the award for Management. Condron was elected president and chief executive officer of AXA Financial, Inc., and a member of the AXA Group Management Board in May 2001. In addition, Condron is chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of AXA Financial’s principal insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company and is responsible for AllianceBernstein, AXA’s majority-owned asset management firm. In December 2009, Condron was named global head of Life & Savings and Health businesses for AXA Group. A native of Scranton, Condron currently serves as chair of The University of Scranton’s Board of Trustees and founding chair of the President’s Business Council. He also serves ad co-chair of the University’s Pride, Passion, Promise Campaign with his wife Peggy Condron, PhD., who also served on The University of Scranton Board. The Condrons reside in Manhattan and have three married sons and eight grandchildren.
Anthony P.J. Smurfit of the class of 1985 will also receive the award for Management. Smurfit is president and chief operations officer of the Smurfit Kappa Group, the largest European-based manufacturer of containerboard and paper-based packaging products. The company, which has approximately 400 locations and more than 40,000 employees, operates in more than 20 European countries, and nine Latin American nations, as well as Canada, Singapore, South Africa and the United States. He joined the Smurfit Kappa Group in 1985 and progressed through positions of increasing responsibility in Europe and the United States prior to achieving his current position in 2002. He has been a member of the organization’s Board of Directors since 1989. Smurfit earned a bachelor’s degree in management from The University of Scranton, where he currently serves on the President’s Business Council’s Executive Committee. He and his wife, Sharon, reside in Monaco with their four children.
Rev. Brendan G. Lally, S.J., of the class of 1970 will receive the award for Religion and Spirituality. Father Lally is a spiritual director at the Pontifical North American College, the seminary in Rome for Americans preparing for the Catholic diocesan priesthood. He is completing a seven-year assignment, which includes leading annual retreat pilgrimages in the Holy Land for seminarians and priests, a task he also led for University of Scranton students and families. Formerly, Father Lally served as a campus minister at Scranton, initiating various retreat programs and summer service experiences in Mexico for University students. He founded an annual immersion program for faculty and staff to El Salvador, and with University alumni, founded the SCOPE Foundation to support a school in San Salvador. Prior to his work at the University, Fr. Lally was a teacher and chaplain at the Scranton Preparatory School for 10 years. He also served as rector of the Jesuit Community at Scranton. Father Lally earned a bachelor’s degree in English from The University of Scranton and a master of divinity from Loyola University, Chicago.
Gerard J. Cipriani, Esq., of the class of 1975 will receive the award for Law. Cipriani is the chief executive office of Cipriani & Werner, P.C., with law offices throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In addition, he is principal of Kestler Cipriani Properties, which develops single-family and multi-family homes, as well as commercial properties. Cipriani earned a bachelor’s degree in English cum laude from The University of Scranton and his law degree from Duquesne University School of Law. Mr. Cipriani has been a member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County since 1987 and a charter member of the Association of Ski Defense Attorneys. He is actively involved at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, recently serving as chair of the church’s capital campaign. He and his wife, Louise Marie, reside in Pittsburgh and have four sons and two grandsons.
Judith A. O’Donnell, M.D., of the class of 1985 will receive the award for Education. Dr. O’Donnell is an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the hospital epidemiologist and director of the Department of Infection Prevention & Control and Healthcare Epidemiology at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia. At Penn, Dr. O’Donnell has concentrated on the prevention of health care-associated infections through educational initiatives. She previously spent 13 years at the Division of Infectious Diseases at Drexel University’s College of Medicine, where she earned one of five national awards for a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention educational program. She is an active volunteer in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s parish religious education programs. Dr. O’Donnell earned her bachelor’s degree in biology at Scranton and her medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. O’Donnell resides in Wyndmoor with her husband Steven Gelone and their two daughters.
Albert A. Tielemans of the class of 1985 will receive the award for Arts and Letters. Tielemans is a staff photographer at Sports Illustrated, where he began freelancing in 1989. As a Scranton student, Tielemans worked as a photographer in the Royal Sports Information Office. Upon graduation, he worked in New York City as a photo assistant in an advertising studio before moving back home to North Wales to begin freelancing. Based on photos he took from scalped seats at a Philadelphia Phillies’ baseball game, he was offered the position as the team photographer, a job he held from 1986 to 1994. Eventually Sports Illustrated assignments consumed his schedule, and he began concentrating his time on the national magazine. Tielemans’ career has taken him to some of the biggest sporting events in the world; he has covered the last 20 Super Bowls, 16 World Series and 11 Olympic Games. He and his wife, Amy, reside in Chalfont and have two sons, Aaron and Xander.
Alfred M. Rotondaro, Ph.D., of the class of 1960 will receive the award for Community Service. Dr. Rotondaro is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan research and educational institute located in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the Center for American Progress in 2002, Dr. Rotondaro worked as executive director for the National Italian American Foundation – also in the nation’s capital – for 23 years. He also taught at Scranton as an assistant professor of English from 1962 to 1969. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English and philosophy from Scranton, Dr. Rotondaro earned a master’s degree in English at Creighton University, a doctorate degree in American Civilization from New York University and an honorary degree in Humanities from Wheeling University. He and his wife Kathleen reside in Alexandria, Va., and have two children and a granddaughter.
