Gannon University to Recognize Five Distinguished Alumni
Posted: October 3, 2013Gannon University will recognize its 2013 Distinguished Alumni
during a ceremony on Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. in the Yehl Room of the
Waldron Campus Center. Five honorees will be recognized for
succeeding in their respective fields and making significant
contributions to their church and/or community.
Honorees are available for interviews with the media from 5-5:45
p.m. on Oct. 4. Please request an interview in advance by
contacting Haley Figurski at 814-823-1886 or
figurski007@gannon.edu.
The Distinguished Alumni include the following:
Gregory F. Reed, Ph.D., Class of 1985, Gibsonia, Pa.,
resident/St. Marys, Pa., native. Reed has more than 27
years of combined industry and academic experience in the electric
power and energy sector, including positions in engineering,
research and development, and executive management. He is currently
the director of the electric power initiative in the Swanson School
of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, associate director
of the University's Center for Energy, and associate professor of
electric power engineering in the Swanson School's Electrical and
Computer Engineering Department. Reed earned his bachelor's degree
from Gannon in electrical engineering in 1985, before earning his
Master's of Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in
1986 and a doctorate in electric power engineering from the
University of Pittsburgh in 1997.
Kevin P. Sullivan, Class of 1987, Burbank, Calif.,
resident/Stratford, Conn., native. Sullivan is a writer
and producer for Nickelodeon. With more than 25 years' experience
in television and entertainment, his work includes production work
for "The 62nd Annual Academy Awards" and designing theme-park
attractions for The Walt Disney Company. A 1987 Gannon graduate
with a degree in communications, Sullivan was nominated for an Emmy
Award in 2010 for his work on "The Fairly OddParents," and in 2011
he was nominated for two Annie Awards (the Animation Guild's
highest honor) for writing "The Fairly OddParents" and "T.U.F.F.
Puppy."
Antoinette Spevetz, M.D., Class of 1983, Oxford, Pa.,
resident. Spevetz is a professor of medicine at the Cooper
Medical School of Rowan University, where she is responsible for
more than 30 graduate medical education programs and over 300
trainees. In addition to earning her degree from Gannon in health
science as part of the Gannon Hahnemann program in 1983, Spevetz
earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from Hahnemann Medical School
a month later. She continued her education with a residency at
Abington Memorial Hospital and fellowships at Cooper University
Hospital. During her career she also served on the faculty at the
University of Florida in Jacksonville and she directed two
intensive care units at Upper Chesapeake Health in
Maryland.
Andrew C. Rapp, Class of 1995, Foxburg, Pa.,
resident. Rapp is the senior program analyst with the U.S.
Office of Personnel Management. Five years after graduating from
Gannon in 1995 with an English degree, Rapp enlisted in the U.S.
Army as a counterintelligence agent and airborne paratrooper. After
reaching the rank of Staff Sergeant and earning several medals and
ribbons, Rapp was honorably discharged from the Army in 2006. He
immediately began employment as a contractor for the U.S. Army,
training more than 300 soldiers and civilians in human intelligence
collection. Rapp continued to fulfill Army contracts in Arizona
until August 2008 when he returned home to western Pennsylvania to
work for Ibis Tek before accepting his current job.
Monsignor James E. Sanner, Class of 1953, San Antonio,
Texas, resident/Erie, Pa., native. Sanner, retired from 34
years of active military duty, is currently under government
contract as the base chaplain for the U.S. Army's base at Fort Sam
Houston in San Antonio, Texas. An Erie native, Sanner attended
Gannon from 1951-53 before completing his degree in philosophy at
Saint Bonaventure University in 1995. He attended Christ the
King Seminary from 1955-59, was ordained at Saint Peter Cathedral
in 1959 and received a Master of Science degree in guidance and
counseling from Long Island University in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1976.
During the Vietnam War, he applied to be a chaplain in the
military, and after training his brigade was deployed to Vietnam
where he served for a year in 1968. He took several assignments all
over the world there after, including a return to Vietnam with the
4th Infantry Division, before retiring in 2002. He climbed in rank
to lieutenant colonel and colonel and earned decorations, medals
and campaign ribbons.