Alumni Accomplishments

Mary Mulligan Gunsalus ’76, a teacher at Landstown Middle School in Virginia Beach, Va., has been named Virginia History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Preserve America. She received a $1,000 honorarium, and a core archive of history books and materials was donated to her school library.

Inaugurated in 2004, the History Teacher of the Year Award honors one exceptional K-12 teacher of American history from each state and U.S. territory. The selection of the state winner is based upon several criteria, including experience in teaching American history for at least three years; a deep career commitment to teaching American history; evidence of creativity and imagination in the classroom; and close attention to documents, artifacts, historic sites and the other primary materials of history. A history major at St. Lawrence, Gunsalus was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa, the national academic honor society.

Shauna Ryan King ’79 has been appointed Yale University's vice president of finance and administration. She had worked for most of her career in various capacities at PepsiCo, most recently as president of PepsiCo Shared Services, global chief information officer and chief transformation officer. In the last of her assignments, she began the process of transforming PepsiCo from a highly decentralized company into one that shares business processes and IT systems across its divisions.
"Throughout her career, Shauna King has demonstrated a capacity to communicate a vision and to motivate people,” said Yale President Richard C. Levin. “She is gifted at problem diagnosis and priority-setting, and she is also committed to encouraging the professional development of those around her."
King, a certified public accountant, majored in psychology at St. Lawrence and earned an MBA in accounting and finance from Cornell University.

Jim Miller '68, a professor in the College of Business and Management at Lynn University, Boca Raton, Fla., since 1985, recently received the Outstanding Professor of the Year Award for the 2005-2006 academic year. For the past 16 years, each graduating class has selected by secret ballot a faculty member they think epitomizes excellence in teaching. The Outstanding Professor of the Year is "one who encourages learning both inside and outside of the classroom, challenges students to do their very best and inspires them to do great things, both now and in the future." Donald Ross, president of Lynn University, left, and Kathleen Cheek-Milby, vice president for academic affairs, presented Miller with the award during undergraduate Commencement ceremonies on May 13. This marked the fourth time students have named him the Outstanding Professor of the Year. Miller earned his St. Lawrence degree in economics, a master's degree from Catholic University of America and the Ph.D. from The American University.

Michele Amidon ’94 has been named USA Hockey’s first-ever director of women’s hockey operations. A former U.S. Women’s National Team player, she had spent the last eight seasons of her professional career as the highly successful head coach of the Bowdoin College women’s ice hockey team. In 2002-03, she guided Bowdoin to a third-place national finish and was named both the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association and NESCAC Coach of the Year.
“Getting someone of Michele’s caliber is a tremendous benefit to our women’s national program as we begin preparations for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver,” said Jim Johannson, senior director of hockey operations at USA Hockey.

Amidon also has coaching experience at the international level, having served as assistant coach with the U.S. National Women’s 22 & Under Team that competed in the 1999 Christmas Cup in Fussen, Germany. She has also been a head coach at USA Hockey’s Player Development Camps.
She won a silver medal as a member of the U.S. National Team at the 1992 International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship. She was a three-year captain of the SLU women’s team, and was ECAC Rookie and NCAA Division III Player of the Year in her first season. Named the ECAC Most Valuable Player as a junior and to the ECAC All-Star Team in her senior campaign, Amidon was a three-time MVP of the St. Lawrence team.

Russ Czerw ’83 was promoted two ranks to major general by the U. S. Army in July, and promptly took command of the Army Medical Department Center at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Tex., which trains all Army enlisted medical personnel. He is also post commander and chief of the Army Dental Corps. Czerw, a native of Utica, New York, was the subject of a feature story in the Utica Observer-Dispatch newspaper, which stated, “Czerw has had extended assignments in Germany and Washington, D.C., in his 19-year career with the Army Dental Corps, and a memorable tour in Iraq where he also commanded a combat stress control unit. He credits his St. Lawrence baseball coach, Tom Fay, for convincing him after a promising tryout with the Boston Red Sox to go to dental school instead of hanging his hopes on pro baseball. That led directly to his career with the Army Dental Corps.”

Czerw was also active in music at St. Lawrence, where he sang Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha in his senior year. He earned his degree in biology, and also participated in ROTC, helping lead his unit to top honors during Army training at Fort Bragg as a senior. He earned his DDS degree at SUNY Buffalo and has been a member of St. Lawrence's Alumni Executive Council. He and his wife, Michelle Alexander Czerw ’83, have a daughter, Danielle, 17.  

The Student Conservation Association (SCA) Board meeting in June 2006 in Acadia National Park, Maine, saw several Laurentians in attendance, including three members of the board. They spent one morning working with a SCA high school conservation crew doing a conservation service project in the park, and were appropriately attired for that work when photographed. From left to right are Erica Carlson, who worked in St. Lawrence’s admissions office, 1998-2001; Fraser Brewer Gilbane ’78, SCA board; Josh Stearns ’00, SCA board; Robert Holley ‘79N, SCA vice president for advancement; and Fred Prescott ’86, SCA board.