Pitt-Bradford Honors Professors

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford recognized 10 faculty members celebrating service anniversaries at dinner held at Kelly’s Restaurant.

Dr. Marvin Thomas, professor of history and senior member of the faculty, was honored for 40 years. Thomas is a recipient of the Pitt-Bradford Alumni Association’s Teaching Excellence Award and regales the community with a public multimedia lecture each year. Past topics have included Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. He holds a doctoral degree in history from Penn State and a master of arts in history from Columbia University.

Dr. Richard Frederick, professor of history, was honored for 30 years. Another popular lecturer, Frederick has given talks on the election of 1800 and the assassination of John F. Kennedy and has sat on panels for several discussions. Recently he finished a manuscript for the biography of William Howard Taft.

Honored for 25 years service were Dr. Assad Panah, professor of geology, and Dr. David Soriano, associate professor chemistry. Panah is the director of the petroleum technology program and has twice been named a Fulbright Scholar. In addition to teaching chemistry, Soriano is a distributor for Zippo Manufacturing, a lighter collector and dealer.

Betsy Matz, associate professor of business management, and Dr. Hashim Yousif, professor of physics, were honored for 20 years of service. Matz is the chairwoman of the Division of Management and Education at Pitt-Bradford. She has served as chairwoman of the Women’s History Month Celebration Committee for more than a decade and also leads a group of faculty and staff members who weave baskets.

Yousif is the director of the physical sciences program. In addition to his academic work, Yousif enjoys vegetable gardening for his family, listening to classical and Arabic music, and reading the newspaper.

Honored for 10 years was Dr. Stephen Robar, associate professor of political science and chairman of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences.

Three professors were honored for five years of service: Dr. Donna Armstrong, assistant professor of education, director of teacher education and coordinator of elementary education; Mark Kelley, instructor of sports medicine and director of the sports medicine program; and Dr. Jean Truman, assistant professor of nursing and coordinator of the associate of science in nursing program.

Pictured are, from left, Dr. Marvin Thomas, Dr. Assad Panah, Betsy Matz, Dr. Hashim Yousif; and Dr. Rick Frederick, all of whom have 20 or more years of service to Pitt-Bradford. Not pictured is Dr. David Soriano.
(Photo courtesy of Pitt-Bradford)