Frank Battisti, Lisa Betrus, Philip de Blasi, alumni relations director Graham Stewart, David I. Stewart, alumni board president Steven C. White (back); President Williams, Eric Jordan Young, and Roger Eslinger

At the annual awards dinner and celebration, Ithaca College Alumni Association president Steven C. White '66, MS '69, presented the following:

Distinguished Alumni Award: David I. Stewart '67

Television-radio graduate Stewart retired from Cornell University in 2000 after 21 years, the last 15 as director of community relations. He began serving Ithaca College as an undergraduate and has attended every reunion since his Commencement. A former alumni association board representative (15 years; in 2002 he was named an emeritus member), he is currently in his second term on the Ithaca College Board of Trustees.
 

Lifetime Achievement Award: Frank Battisti '53, MS '64

Battisti is conductor emeritus of the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble, which he founded and conducted for 30 years. Battisti has been responsible for commissioning and premiering over 50 works for wind ensemble and has traveled to nearly every continent as a guest conductor/clinician.

Outstanding Young Alumni Award: Lisa Betrus'93, Philip de Blasi '93, and Eric Jordan Young '93

Betrus became the youngest licensed nursing home administrator in New York State when she was named the CEO/ administrator at Valley Health Services in Herkimer. She has returned to Ithaca annually since graduation as a guest lecturer and Alumni Advisory Committee member for the health services administration department.

English major De Blasi is a screenwriter, filmmaker, and composer whose film Autumn Dreams appeared at numerous film festivals and is now being shown at two Internet sites. He composed and wrote the libretto to Frankenstein: A New Musical.

Young is a dancer, actor, and singer who has returned to teach several times and choreographed IC Theatre's 1996 main-stage production of The Good Times Are Killing Us. He has toured with Dreamgirls, Ragtime, and Chicago; was in the original Broadway cast of Seussical (2000), and in 2001 he was given the Helen Hayes Award for best supporting actor in a musical for his performance as Jake in the Signature Theatre production of Sideshow. He currently plays Billy Flynn in the Broadway production of Sideshow. Young recently performed in the world premiere of Little Fish.

James J. Whalen Meritorious Service Award: Roger Eslinger

Eslinger retired from the College in 2002 after a distinguished 30-year record of service during which he helped to shape the Campus Center and student activities programs. "His positive impact on the lives of students is legendary," says alumni relations director Graham Stewart '81, M.S. '01. "His dedication and hard work, all in support of the student experience at IC, benefited the thousands of students who, over the years, called the campus center 'home.'"