2007 Alumni Awards
The Outstanding Alumnus Award
~ L. Jonathon Groza '77 ~
Groza is vice president and senior financial advisor for Fifth Third Bank Investment Advisors and Fifth Third Securities, Inc., With over 25 years experience in investment management, trust and estate planning, Groza works closely with numerous personal and corporate client relationships. He focuses on portfolio management for individuals, non-profit organizations, corporations and foundations.
Groza received his undergraduate degree in business administration from Ashland College and holds a Juris Doctorate from Cleveland Marshall College of Law. He is a registered reprensentative and a member of estate planning and professional organizations.
Active in community affairs, Groza serves on the AU Board of Trustees, as well as teh Boards of The Berea Children's Home and Family serices. He and his wife, son and daughter reside in a Avon Lake.
The Glenn L. Clayton Award ~ William H. Etling '61 ~
Bill Etling has served as vice president for development and public relations at his alma mater since 1993. In that position, he has administrative responsibility for alumni and parent relations, public relations, development, legacy estate programs and university campaigns.
He is in his second term as vice president at AU, having previously served as vice president for development and institutional advancement from 1979 to 1987. From 1987 to 1993 he served as vice president for college advancement at Maryville (Tenn.) College. He began his career in higher education as an alumni field representative for Ashland in 1966 and was promoted to director of alumni affairs before moving on to Butler University where he served as director of alumni relations and director of development.
Etling has led a number of successful fund-raising efforts at Ashland University, including the Hawkins-Conard Student Center Campaign and Building on Strength Campaign, which both exceeded their goals. In 1998, he was named a Major Gift Laureate and received the Fundraiser of Distinction Award from the Institute of Charitable Giving.
A native of Loudonville, Etling earned a bachelor of science in business administration degree from Ashland College. Etling, his wife, Diana, and their two sons reside in Ashland.
The Distinguished Service Award
~ Robert King, Jr. '70 ~
Bob King is division vice president of the Great Lakes area for ADP (Automatic Data Processing), responsible for $350 million in revenue and approximately 1,000 associates. He began his employment with ADP as a salesman 36 years ago and had a number of promotions, being named vice president in 2001.
He was instrumental in establishing an alumni chapter in Pittsburgh in the late 1970s. He continued to help organize, host and preside at over 20 Pittsburgh area alumni programs over the next 25 years-including the 125th Anniversary dinner which was hosted at his country club. He was a leader for Dr. Glenn L. Clayton as one of the charter members of the AC/AU1000 scholarship endowment Club. King has also hosted several Annual Fund regional phone-a-thons at his company (ADP Inc.). In 2001-2002, King honored his parents by establishing and fully funding The King Endowed Scholarship at Ashland University. King has worked for the past 18 years assisting in numerous campaign efforts, including the Wurster Fitness Center Campaign and Hawkins-Conard Student Center Campaign.
King and his wife, Maureen, reside in Pittsburgh. They have two adult children who also reside in the Steel City.
The Professor Raymond Bixler Award
~ Dr. Ellen Tisdale '78 ~
After earning her bachelor of science degree from AU, Tisdale went on to earn a master of science degree at Clemson University and a Ph.D. at Case Western Reserve University. She did postdoctoral research at CWRU, the Scripps Research Institute and Uppsala ( Sweden) University.
She has been a faculty member in the Department of Pharmacology at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine in Detroit since 1996, teaching courses in pharmacology and cell biology. In 2001, she received WSU’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
Tisdale has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association and has authored research papers in refereed journals as well as book chapters in scientific texts. She has made presentations on her work at conferences, universities and medical schools in the United States and abroad.
The Drushal Humanitarian Award
~ Dr. Adam Ringler '99 ~
Dr. Ringler earned a bachelor of science degree in biology and chemistry from AU. He went on to study at the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine, graduating first in his class in 2003. He served his podiatric surgical residency at Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, Fla., and passed his podiatric surgery exam in June 2006.
A founding member of the Steps of Life Foundation, Ringler takes two mission trips a year to operate on children in the Dominican Republic.
Ringler has made presentations and authored articles about research in podiatry that have been published in professional journals.
The Special Achievement Award
~ Picheat Chansate '87 ~
Chansate is managing director of ThaiSomdej Logistics Company Limited in Bangkok, Thailand. A third party logistics provider, ThaiSomdej offers total logistics solution in the Free Zone, nationwide customs clearance service, warehouse and inventory management, and inland transportation service.
Chansate earned a bachelor of science in business administration degree with a major in marketing.
The Honorary Alumnus Award
~ Elizabeth Pastor ~
Liz Pastor has been a member of the faculties of Ashland University and The Cleveland Institute of Music for more than half of a century. She served as chairman of AU’s Music Department from 1983 to 1987, and served on a number of University faculty committees. She is a multiple-year recipient of AU’s Academic Mentor Award, and in 1987 was selected as the second Trustees’ Professor, an honor given by the Board of Trustees for outstanding service to the University as an educator, performer and campus leader.
A scholarship graduate of Boston’s Longy School of Music, she received an Artist’s Diploma at the age of 18. Pastor was a student of Boris Goldovsky in Cleveland and Boston, with Carl Friedberg in New York, and with Arthur Loesser and Beryl Rubinstein in Cleveland.
She has performed at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the Akron Art Institute, Interlochen Michigan Music camp and many cities throughout Ohio and the Midwest, in both solo recitals as well as a participant in many chamber music concerts. She has been a pianist with the famed Cleveland Quartet, performed all of the Beethoven Cello-Piano Sonatas with Ernest Silberstein, and made numerous radio and television appearances.
In addition to her music career, Pastor played a key role in AU’s Spectrum Series, which brings speakers and performers to campus. For approximately 20 years, she has been responsible for AU’s Music Department Guest Artist Series, bringing musicians to campus. She has been a tireless worker for the Ashland community as well. In the 1970s, she founded the Society for Ashland’s Preservation (SAP) and has been a key figure in a number of environmental projects.