Four to receive Alumni Awards; junior Brian Spendley to receive Orange Spirit Award

Four to receive Alumni Awards; junior Brian Spendley to receive Orange Spirit AwardOctober 04, 2007Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Four Syracuse University alumni have been chosen to be honored with the Outstanding Alumni Awards and the Outstanding Young Alumni Award. In addition, a current student has been selected to receive the Orange Spirit Award.

Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric F. Spina and Wally Bobkiewicz, president of the SU Alumni Association will present the Outstanding Alumni Award to Ann Doctor Drumheller ’89 and Troy Johnson ’84 on Friday, Oct. 12, during Homecoming + Reunion Weekend. Also on Oct. 12, Matthew Menner ’90, G’94 will receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award and Brian Spendley ’09, a junior in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, will be presented with the Orange Spirit Award.

Akira Ohtomo ’52 will receive his Outstanding Alumni Award in 2008 at a special meeting of the SU Alumni Association of Japan.

Ann M. Doctor Drumheller `89Ann M. Doctor Drumheller received a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting from the College of Visual and Performing Arts and undertook graduate coursework in the Museum Studies Program. While at SU, she was a four-year varsity letterwinner in volleyball.

Drumheller is the head registrar at the national Museum of the American Indian-Smithsonian Institution (NMAI) in Washington, D.C. She was appointed to the position in 1995 after serving five years in the Museum’s collections management division.

She has been published with the American Institute of Conservation (AIC) regarding the traditional care of Native cultural materials held in museum collections. Drumheller has been a panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants for small museums with native collections and the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grants.

Drumheller is active in a number of civic and cultural organizations, including serving as cultural liaison to the board of the Tewaaraton Foundation, the SU D.C. Arts Council, the American Association of Museums and the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, among many others.

Drumheller and her husband, Craig, a 1988 graduate of the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, live in Clarksville, Md., with their three children, Kyle, Dean and Patricia.

Troy Johnson ’84 Troy Johnson received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, and later received a master’s degree from Polytechnic University and a master’s of business administration degree from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

He is a technology expert and industry leader in marketing books on the World Wide Web. In 1998, Johnson founded AALBC.com, LLC (The African American Literature Book Club). The website, for which Johnson serves as webmaster, is now the largest and most frequently visited website dedicated to books by and about African Americans. Johnson also serves as senior book editor for Harlem World Magazine.

As part of his service to SU and his fellow alumni, Johnson monitors Class Notes in the SU Magazine and promotes new SU authors who will appeal to his audience. He has supported Coming Back Together reunions by organizing seminars and used his technical knowledge to educate fellow alumni on buying computers. While at SU, Johnson was letterwinner in men’s gymnastics.

Johnson has more than 20 years of experience in corporate settings, from designing wide area networks to managing international projects. He is a frequent panelist and public speaker, and has been recognized in articles that have appeared in Publisher’s Weekly, Essence Magazine and The New York Times, among many notable publications. He has also made numerous radio and television appearances, including C-SPAN 2’s “Book TV” and The Black Family Channel’s “Literary Living.”

He has served on numerous boards and committees, including the advisory boards of Black Americans in Publishing and New York Is Book Country. He is currently a board member of the Literary Freedom Project and an advisory board member of the Harlem Book Fair.

Johnson lives in Harlem, N.Y. with his wife and two daughters.

Akira Ohtomo ’52 (Arts and Sciences)Akira Ohtomo is the chair and CEO of Pan Pacific Enterprises, based in Japan. He previously served as president and CEO of Polaroid Japan Inc; Cartier Japan Inc.; and Cartier USA Inc. in Hawaii, as well as holding positions with Coca Cola and Canon, both in Japan and the United States.

In 1950, he was the first recipient of Chancellor William Pearson Tolley’s special scholarship offered to Japanese students on the occasion of Chancellor Tolley’s visit to Japan on a special education mission. In addition to SU, Ohtomo also studied at Keio University in Tokyo, receiving a law degree; Harvard University Business School; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School.

Ohtomo has worked diligently to promote SU and help University leaders to develop important connections in Japan. He was one of the leaders who welcomed Chancellor Melvin A. Eggers and the SU contingent in Japan when the SU football team traveled to Tokyo to play in the Coca Cola Bowl in 1989.

He was instrumental in establishing the SU Alumni Association in Japan and has served as its leader since the early 1990s, striving to ensure that records of SU alumni and friends living in Japan are accurate and that those persons feel connected to the University and part of the SU family.

He is a former member of the advisory board of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. A LetterWinner of Distinction for fencing, Ohtomo has supported the Maxwell School, the Goldstein Alumni and Faculty Center and the Fencing Club.

Ohtomo resides in Tokyo and Hawaii with his wife, Mari Yoshimura, a well-known figure in Japan’s film and television industry.

Matthew Menner ’90, G’94Matthew Menner earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration/marketing management from Utica College and an M.B.A. in transportation and distribution/marketing management from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. He is the senior vice president for sales and alliances for Transplace Inc., a leading third-party logistics and technology solutions provider focused on transportation management business processes outsourcing. He leads a team of sales directors, develops and executes alliances strategies and oversees industry analyst relations for Transplace. He has more than 17 years of transportation and logistics industry experience.

He serves on the Whitman School Advisory Council and is a founding member of the Franklin Supply Chain Management Advisory Board, both at SU. He is a trustee and active alumnus at Green Mountain College, where he received an associate’s degree.

Menner was recently appointed to the position of vice president for strategic development for the Council of Supply Chain Professional (CSCMP) New England Roundtable.

He is the captain and chief operating officer for Team Eradicate of the Pan Mass Challenge, fighting in the battle against cancer. The team of 37 riders has raised nearly $1 million in eight years.

Menner resides in Belmont, Mass.

Brian Spendley ’09 Brian Spendley is a junior majoring in biomedical engineering in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science. He is a member of the dean’s list; Phi Sigma Pi, the national co-ed honors fraternity; an LCS Excellerator and a research assistant in the biomaterials laboratory.

Spendley’s list of service to the greater Syracuse and Syracuse University communities is extensive. He is a mentor orientation leader, a member of the Leadership Institute and executive director of SU’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity. He volunteers for SU Ambulance, Relay for Life and Orange Seeds, and is a patient care volunteer at University Hospital. He is also a member of the Sour Sitrus Society pep band.

He received a Habitat for Humanity Volunteer of the Year Award last year.

“Brian Spendley is ‘Orange Spirit,” says Gregory Victory, associate director of career services, who nominated Spendley for the award. “He is an exceedingly involved student leader with a passion for bringing his love for SU to all he encounters. He lives the spirit of SU.”