Five individuals will receive Worcester State College’s 25th Annual Distinguished Alumni Awards for their contributions to the healthcare sector, education field, disabilities services, community, and WSC’s mission on Thursday, May 6 in the Student Center’s Blue Lounge. These awards are the highest non-degree recognition WSC bestows on alumni.
The honorees are Dr. John Durkin of Worcester, Dr. Ann McGreevy of Marblehead, Dr. Imoigele Aisiku of Bellaire, Texas, DeAnne Wellman Owre of North Smithfield, R.I., and Lucille Barton of Braintree.
Durkin, the executive director of Worcester State’s Center for Effective Instruction and former superintendent of Worcester Public Schools, will be recognized for his longtime commitment to WSC. As an early a member of its Alumni Association, Durkin played a pivotal role in the association’s growth and success. His unassuming service on alumni committees continues today.
McGreevy, who worked in Worcester Public Schools for 20 years, is currently an adjunct visiting professor of education and advisor in the master’s in reading program at Salem State College. She is also a teacher-coach and director of professional development at St. Mary’s High School in Lynn. She will be honored for her outstanding service in the field of education.
Aisiku’s early success in his profession will be recognized with this year’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award. He is an associate professor in the departments of neurosurgery and emergency medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Memorial-Hermann Hospital in Houston, vice-chair and chief of critical care for the hospital’s neurosurgery department, and a physician in its neuroscience critical care unit and emergency room. Aisiku is also a co-investigator for the National Institutes of Health Sickle Cell Disease Research Network.
Currently the chair of the speech-language-pathology department for the Woonsocket, R.I., School System, Owre will be honored for her distinguished professional achievement. She has helped others overcome communication difficulties in various public schools, hospital clinics, and skilled nursing facilities, has developed numerous new programs, and become a leader in speech-language-pathology field.
Barton, whose service in her community will be recognized, made a lasting impact through her leadership of the Gardeners Guild of Braintree. She has also volunteered for Norwell Visiting Nurses Association and helped raise funds for South Shore Hospital’s oncology center.
For more information on this event, please contact the WSC Office of Alumni Development at 508-929-8141 or alumni@worcester.edu. Profiles of the award recipients are available at http://alumni.worcester.edu.