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Ten alumni
and students will be honored at the Alumni Awards banquet on
Saturday, April 16, 2005, as well as
the Boone County
(W.Va.) Club receiving the Club of the Year award.
The
Distinguished Alumni Award will be presented to
businessman
Robert "Bob" Cosmai.
This award is given to Marshall alumni for
outstanding national achievements in their particular fields
of endeavor.
 Bob Cosmai, president and chief executive officer of
Hyundai America, is a native of Hillsdale,
N.J. He began a career in the auto industry
immediately after graduation from Marshall's School of
Business. After completing the executive training program at
Ford Motors, he stayed there for 11 years. In 1982, he moved
on to Nissan, then vice president of sales for Accura. He
left that position in 1998 to become vice president for
national sales of Hyundai, the Korean automaker. This was a
challenge he felt ready for,
and before long his innovations had moved sales to a new
level. By 2003, he had become
president and chief executive officer of Hyundai.
The
Community Achievement Award will be presented to
Sylvia Ridgeway (BA'76, MA'84) and Sally M. Love
(MA'81). This award is
given to alumni for success in their fields of endeavor and
personal contributions to their respective communities.
 Sylvia
Ridgeway is current president of the Huntington/Cabell
branch of the National Association of the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP). Ridgeway has served as a secretary
in the College of Education and Human Services; instructor
in the Community and Technical College, and teacher for the
Cabell County Board of Education. Her community service
includes the board of directors of the Ebenezer Learning
Center; second vice president of the West Virginia State
Conference of Branches, NAACP; member of the evaluation team
for the City of Huntington's "Children in the Arts" program
at the A.D. Lawrence Community Center, and many more honors
past and present.
 Sally M.
Love of Charleston, W.Va., is founder and president of
the Snowshoe Institute, a non-profit organization promoting
educational and cultural entertainment in conjunction with
Marshall University, West Virginia University, the West
Virginia Humanities Council and Intrawest. She is on the
Foundation board of directors and board of visitors of the
Marshall University Graduate College. Her
community involvement has included the Ronald McDonald
House, the Craik-Patton Historical Home, the West Virginia
Mansion Preservation Foundation, the West Virginia Symphony
Orchestra, YWCA High Hopes and Pro-Kids, an after school
mentoring program.
The
Distinguished Service to the Community Award will be
presented to Houston, Texas, businessman Bob Brammer
and Sen. Robert Plymale.
 Bob Brammer, a native of Huntington and 1965 Marshall
graduate, is founder and owner of the Houston-based Brammer
Standard Company Inc., an international distributor of
chemical and spectrochemical analytical reference
materials.
He is also vice chair of
Marshall's Campaign for National Prominence and a strong
supporter of the Big Green Scholarship Foundation, The
Thunder Club and the Erickson Alumni Center Building Fund.
He and his wife, Sylvia Max Brammer, are major supporters of
the Society of Yeager Scholars. He also has endowed several
scholarships, including one in memory of his first wife,
Connie Sue Pelfrey Brammer. Bob Brammer is working hard to
start an alumni club in the Houston area before the Herd
starts its Conference USA play.
 Sen.
Robert Plymale is currently serving his third
four-year term in the West Virginia Senate. He was first
elected in 1992. In previous years, he has also served as
the chairman of the Senate Committee on Pensions;
vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on Education;
vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human
Resources;
and co-chairman of the Forest Management Review Commission. Plymale is chairman of the Senate Education
Committee and a ranking member of Senate Finance.
In 2003 he was appointed to the Southern
Regional Education
Board of Control by Governor Bob Wise. Plymale
is employed by the Nick J. Rahall Appalachian Transportation
Institute, located in Huntington, W.Va. He also serves in
various public and community organizations, including the
Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce; the Cabell County
Senior Service Organization; the Wayne County Economic
Development Authority;
and is on the board of directors of
the Huntington Museum of Art.
 The
Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing
Award will go to entrepreneur Robert L. Shell Jr. This
award recognizes outstanding achievements in and
contributions to the manufacturing sector.
Shell, a member of the Marshall Board of Governors, is
chairman and CEO of Guyan International, a privately held
holding company whose Permco Division is internationally
recognized. Permco has facilities in the United States,
Europe and the People's Republic of China.
Shell has been a member of the following civil boards:
United Way of the River Cities, Huntington Boys and Girls
Club, The Cabell Huntington Hospital Foundation, United
Huntington Industries and the Marshall Artists Series. He is
a member of the marshall University Business Hall of Fame.
The Carolyn
B. Hunter Distinguished Faculty Service Award wi ll
be presented to Dr. Rudy Pauley, associate professor and
program director for elementary and secondary education in
South Charleston. Pauley has been the leader for the
development and establishment of Marshall's latest doctoral
programs for the South Charleston campus. He is coordinator
of that campus' Web CT users group and is strongly
supportive of the distance education efforts to deliver
graduate instruction to students in many rural areas of the
state and the region. Pauley serves on the Kanawha County
School superintendent's advisory board and School to Work
committee.
The Hunter
Award was created by the MUAA for the purpose of recognizing
outstanding achievements and providing incentives for
continued service from faculty to the community, the
university and students in their respective fields. Award
nominees were evaluated on their professional service to the
community and their service to the university and its
students.
Two Nancy
Pelphrey Herd Village Scholarships will be awarded.
These scholarships, one to a cheerleader and one to a
Marching Band member, were established in 1998 by the MUAA
board of directors, in honor of Nancy Pelphrey, Herd Village
coordinator. Funds from the scholarship come from proceeds
from Herd Village tailgating events.
 Brittney Hughart, a
culinary arts major from Ona, will
be presented with the Cheerleader Scholarship. Hughart has
been a community Little League coach for three years, a West
Virginia junior high school cheerleading tryout judge, and a
cheerleading competition instructor. She is employed at
The Different Twist and as a gymnastics instructor at Studio
60.
 Nicholas Slate,
an integrated science and technology major from Charleston, will
receive the Marching Band Scholarship. Slate is director of
the Aldersgate Handbell Choir, and has been involved in
Marshall's Sweat Equity Day, the Kanawha Valley Day of
Percussion, the Golden Key International Honour Society, and
he provides technology assistance and training in the
community.
 The
Cam Henderson Scholarship Award will go to
Ian Gray O'Connor, a sophomore science major from
Knoxville, Tenn. Ian is on the Dean's List, and is a member
of the Thundering Herd football team where he was named MAC
Special Team Player of the Week three times this past
season. He is a member of Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society and
the Student Athlete Advisory Council,
and enjoys painting and drawing.
The Cam Henderson Scholarship
was established by the Alumni Association in the name of
legendary football and basketball coach Cam Henderson. It is
given yearly to the student athlete who best exemplifies the
spirit of scholarship while participating in athletics.
 The
Boone County Club was chosen as
the Alumni Association Club of the Year for the third year
in a row. President David Price and other members led the
club in attracting potential students to Marshall by holding
dinners and question and answer sessions at area high
schools, and conducting student trips to campus. Club
membership increased by 20 percent, with activities such as
the 2004 Golf Classic, which raised $10,000 for scholarship
and club activities; an ATV Poker Run at the Hatfield McCoy
Trail, raising money for the Big Green Scholarship; tailgate
parties averaging 60 fans; and a number of other activities.
For more about the Boone County Club
and other alumni clubs, go to
http://www.marshall.edu/alumni/clubs.asp.
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