Alumni Awards Banquet to honor remarkable achievements

Oakland University's 2010 Alumni Awards Banquet will recognize distinguished OU graduates and individuals who have achieved remarkable success in business, community service, volunteerism and other endeavors on Saturday, Nov 6.

Presented by the Oakland University Alumni Association, this 16th annual event will include two new awards recognizing young alumni and alumni who have demonstrated strong citizenship or humanitarianism through outstanding service activities.

Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett, a 1998 graduate of Oakland's School of Business Administration, will receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award. The honor recognizes alumni who have demonstrated the value of their education through their post-college achievements.

Tom Schramski, SECS '78, a product development resident engineer at Ford Motor Company, will receive the Alumni Community Service Award recognizing distinctive service of a humanitarian nature or citizenship through community, public or OU service activities.

Additionally, Craig Stinson, SBA '84, chairman of the Norma Group GmBH, will receive this year's Distinguished Alumni Service Award. The highest honor granted to alumni, this award recognizes peerless volunteer leadership in service to OU or its alumni association.

Robert Gebbie, CAS '76, a partner, COO and CFO of Natural Bridge Solutions, will receive this year's Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, which honors outstanding professional achievement or contribution to the community.

Writer and web designer Bethany Broadwell, CAS '97 (posthumously) and Steven Gaynor, MAT '78, retired superintendent of Bloomfield Hills Schools, will receive this year's Odyssey Award. The honor recognizes alumni whose lives exemplify Oakland's motto to "seek virtue and knowledge."

Trialon Corporation Account Manager Matthew Karrandja, CAS '97, and Thomas Schaeffler, SBA '85, executive vice president and COO of Credit Union One, will receive the Spirit Award, which commends exemplary volunteer service to the university.

John and Marie Pino, owners of Pino Insurance Agency, will receive an Honorary Alumni Award for outstanding service to the university.

The 16th Annual Alumni Awards Banquet will be held on Saturday, Nov. 6, in the Oakland Center Banquet Rooms. A reception begins at 6 p.m. with the dinner and program at 7 p.m. For more information, contact Erin Sudrovech at (248) 364-6136 or sudrovec@oakland.edu.