Westminster College to Award Alumni Citations Oct. 17
Posted on Monday, October 13, 2008
Westminster College will award Alumni Citations to Dr. Melva McCrory Burke, Nancy Aikman Martin, and A. James Melnick, and Sean Swarner will receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award at the annual Citation Celebration Reception and Dinner Friday, Oct. 17, in the Witherspoon Rooms of the McKelvey Campus Center.
The Westminster College Alumni Citations were created to recognize alumni who achieved significant accomplishments in their profession, or made meaningful contributions to the community or Westminster. The Outstanding Young Alumni Award recognizes alumni of 15 years or less who are making significant contributions as they build careers, and serve their communities or Westminster.
Burke, a 1962 graduate who majored in religion, went on to earn a master's and doctorate in education from the University of North Carolina. She spent over 30 years teaching in the Stanly County (N.C.) Schools before moving to Pfieffer College and East Carolina University. A program for alternative routes to teacher licensing developed at East Carolina became a statewide model. Her articles on teacher preparation have been published in numerous publications and she has been active in several professional organizations. She is an active contributor to her community and church, serving on community boards, assisting with fundraising, singing in choirs, and writing "Cook's Clippings," a weekly newspaper column. Since her retirement, she and her husband, Marvin, spend time traveling to visit friends and grandchildren.
Martin, a 1975 graduate with a degree in English, taught in Williamsport before turning to writing after the birth of her first child. She is the author of 48 pop fiction novels that range from mystery and suspense to history and romance and have been published in 20 languages around the world. She is the creator of the bestselling Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series which chronicles the lives of three impoverished Main Line heiresses. How to Murder a Millionaire earned her a nomination for the Agatha Christie Award for Best First Mystery in 2002, won the Romantic Times magazine award for best first mystery, and made her a finalist for the Daphne DuMaurier Award. She is a former president of the Mary Roberts Rinehart chapter of Sisters in Crime, a board member of Sisters in Crime, and a founding member of Pennwriters. This year, she was nominated for the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award for female sleuth series. A former member of Delta Zeta sorority, Martin was a Westminster Distinguished Alumni Lecturer at Homecoming 2005.
Melnick, a 1975 alumnus with honors in political science, established Westminster's cross enrollment ROTC program with Youngstown State University and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves. He earned a master's in Russian area studies from Harvard University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and a master's in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College. His intelligence career began with his work as a U.S. Army civilian analyst, moving to senior intelligence officer, Soviet/Russian affairs analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency at The Pentagon. In this capacity he briefed senior Defense Department leaders during key events of the Cold War, including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the coup against former Soviet Communist leader Mikhail Gorbachev. His last military assignment was as officer-in-charge of a joint reserve unit supporting the office of assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration at The Pentagon. He was awarded a Presidential Commission medal for his project work with the National Intelligence Commissions preparing for Y2K. Following his retirement as a colonel in the Army Reserves, he shifted from the military to the private sector, focusing on cyber threat intelligence issues and how they impact worldwide computer security. Melnick is director of global threat intelligence with iSIGHT Partners, a global risk mitigation company.
Swarner graduated in 1997 with a degree in psychology. He is believed to be the only person worldwide to be diagnosed with both Hodgkin's disease and Askin's sarcoma. A decade after the removal of the Askin's tumor from his right lung and with only partial use of his lungs, Swarner became the first cancer survivor to climb Mt. Everest. He has since climbed the highest peaks in Africa, Europe, South America, Australia, Antarctica, and North America, and recently completed the 2008 Ford Ironman World Championship. His next goal is to trek to each of the world's poles, which will earn him the designation as the first person to complete what will be known as the "Ultimate Adventure Grand Slam." He is president and co-founder of the CancerClimber Association, a non-profit organization that motivates cancer patients to inspire each other; chief spokesman for the International Spirit of Life Foundation; and author of Keep Climbing: How I Beat Cancer and Reached the Top of the World.
Contact Mary Cooley James '84, director of alumni relations, at (724) 946-7363 or e-mail mjames@westminster.edu for additional information.
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