2019 FALL LYCOMING COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Paul Fochtman ’90 was awarded the Dr. James E. Douthat Outstanding Achievement Award for his collective strength toward significant accomplishments in the professional field and his dedicated support of Lycoming. Fochtman is the head of school at Frankfurt International School in Germany. As a teacher, he has taught high school chemistry, economics, physics, and spent a short time as a kindergarten teacher. He has led schools of 700 up to 4,000 students. “My experience at Lycoming in the classroom, on the tennis court, and with the brothers of KDR has launched me with the skills and confidence to educate, lead, and navigate a career that has taken me around the world,” he said. Ron Frick ’83 was bestowed the Angela R. Kyte Outstanding Alumni Award for his demonstration of a lifetime of service to humanity and for exemplifying those qualities encouraged and fostered by Lycoming College. Frick is president of the Lycoming County United Way where he leads an organization mobilizing resources to change lives in Lycoming, Sullivan, and Tioga Counties. He has been a United Way volunteer for more than three decades. “My Lycoming education and leadership experiences prepared me for a life of servant leadership. The network and friendships I made have continued to serve me in my role as president of the Lycoming County United Way, an organization I served for 33 years before becoming its chief executive officer,” he shared. Amilcar Guzman ’08 received the Taunia Oechslin Young Alumni Award for making significant contributions to his profession, demonstrating leadership and accomplishment in his career, and exemplifying outstanding service and volunteerism to the College or community for the first 15 years after graduating. Guzman is the director of research, evaluation, and outcomes at the League of Women Voters where he leads the organization’s evaluation department. He also serves as the national president of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Alumni Association. “Receiving an alumni award validates my experience. I arrived at Lycoming a shy and insecure 18-year-old who didn’t belong to a family, and I was able to blaze a trail in my career that I never thought possible,” he said. “The lessons that I Iearned and people I met helped shape who I am today.” Mel Zimmerman was presented the Dale V. Bower Service Award for his outstanding service rendered to Lycoming. After 38 years of service to the College, Zimmerman retired from teaching in 2016. He remains director of the College’s Clean Water Institute which he founded in 1999. He continues to direct two minors, coordinates K-12 education outreach through the College’s Environmental Education Center at Waterdale, and serves as chair of the advisory committee of the newly acquired Lycoming Biology Field Station. “This award is a nice capstone and much appreciated after many years of teaching, and I hope to have influenced student awareness of the natural environment, as well as ways to protect and sustain it,” he commented. “So many of my courses involved field, hands-on laboratory activities that I hope shaped how students viewed the natural environment.” The Alumni Association Executive Board honored four outstanding individuals during the All-Alumni Rally & Breakfast. Award recipients were selected for having distinguished themselves both professionally and in their personal lives, and for their loyalty to Lycoming College. OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUALS HONORED Please join us for next year’s Alumni & Reunion Weekend, May 29-31, 2020. Class years ending in 0 or 5 will be celebrating reunions. If you are interested in volunteering for your class reunion, please contact the alumni office at 570-321-4376 or alumni@lycoming.edu , or visit www.lycoming.edu/alumni/alumni-weekend/reunions 35 www.lycoming.edu