Alfred State College student
academic achievement was celebrated in April during the 25th annual
Honors Convocation. ASC President Dr. John M. Anderson welcomed the
gathered students, families, faculty, and friends and congratulated them on
their achievements.
Keynote speaker Jeffery McIntyre, president of Eagle Supply Co., LLC, a full-line supplier of inputs, parts, and supplies to dairy farmers and contact milk haulers, encouraged students to always do their best.
McIntyre, of Chittenango, a 1979 ornamental horticulture graduate of Alfred State College, has held a variety of positions in agriculture or related areas, including a long relationship with Agway, where he served as a store manager, a farm sales manager, and a district manager before moving into River Valley Enterprise, a wholly owned business unit of Agway, where he served as president.
In 1999, McIntyre founded Plum Point Ventures, Inc., a contract management and consulting business.
In 2002, McIntyre became president of Eagle Supply Co., LLC, where he has oversight of the company's five businesses: Eagle Buying Group, Dairy Farmers Buying Group, Dairy Direct, Empire Agri-Systems/Empire Farm Direct, and Eagle Fleet Direct.
The Union Endicott High School graduate serves as a lector at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Chittenango. He also serves on the NYS Fair Dairy Task Force, as a trustee on the Agway Foundation, and as a youth athletic coach in Chittenango.
Another facet of the ceremony was the presentation of the State University of New York (SUNY) 2009 Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence to winner Samuel Parent, Gouverneur, who was also among the 238 SUNY students honored at a reception in Albany in April where they received commemorative certificates and medallions suitable to be worn at commencement and other special events.
Parent, a senior in the baccalaureate-level electrical engineering technology program with a minor in computer engineering technology and information security, holds and maintains a grade point average (GPA) of 3.79 (out of a possible 4.0).
During his time at ASC, Parent has been involved in the Karate Club, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (vice president/secretary) ASC Student Chapter, SMET (School of Management and Engineering Technology) Student Advisory Council, and the Student Code of Conduct Committee.
Parent, a familiar name on ASC's Dean's List, was the recipient of a Millennium Scholarship from Alfred State, which required him to maintain a GPA higher than 3.5.
Additionally, Parent is a member of Phi Theta Kappa and Tau Alpha Pi national honor societies.
Academics are not Parent's only strong suit; he also lends his talents to his adopted community, helping out at a local soup kitchen, as well as assisting his academic department during Open House activities, talking with prospective students about the program at ASC.
Parent also serves as a choir member, Eucharistic minister, and lector at St. Jude's, the local Catholic church.
Parent also served as a summer intern at the NY Power Authority helping engineers catch up on back work such as updating and modifying schematics for various electrical systems.
Parent, a 2005 graduate of Gouverneur High School, is the son of Susan and David Parent, Gouverneur.
Additionally, Tyrell presented the Freshman Advocate Award, sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs, which is given to the employee at Alfred State who had a most positive influence on a student's freshman year at the College. In addition to honoring ASC students, this year's Honors Convocation honored Dr. John C. Williams, associate professor and chair, Mechanical Engineering Department, as the recipient of the Freshman Advocate Award.
Williams was noted as a faculty member to whom students turn for assistance, whether it is in regard to an academic concern or a personal problem.
The nomination read, in part: "I was privileged enough to have Professor Williams [during my] first semester and I was overly impressed by his positive teaching attitude and his enthusiasm in the classroom.....His willingness to provide extra help to students in need is genuine. He knows his students by their first names. I feel that having him for a professor first semester got me off on the right foot and in the right direction so that I could enjoy my studies at Alfred State College."
