The Alumni Fellow Award William C. Witkowski is the 2005 Alumni Fellow for Penn State Behrend and was honored at a campus ceremony on Tuesday, October 4, 2005. The Alumni Fellow Award is the most prestigious
honor bestowed by the Penn State Alumni Association and is administered
in cooperation with Penn State's academic colleges. Since 1973, the
award has been given to a select group of alumni who are leaders in
their professional fields. William C. Witkowski ' 67 is is the owner, chairman, and CEO of Port EriePlastics, Inc., a manufacturing business located in Harborcreek, PA, and owned by his family for more than 50 years. He succeeded his father as president of the company in 1978 and continues today as chairman and CEO, with a third generation of family members actively involved in the company’s management and success. Under his direction, Port Erie Plastics grew from its beginnings in a small building with one injection molding machine to today’s modern 500,000-square-foot plant with 77 injection molding machines and 600 full-time employees. Mr. Witkowski began his academic career at Penn State Behrend and earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering in 1962. In the mid-1980s he took an active role in initiating and developing Penn State Behrend’s plastics engineering technology program, and in 1996 he was present when the Witkowski Building was dedicated as part of the college’s Engineering Complex. He is a longtime member of the Plastics Engineering Technology Industrial Advisory Board. Port Erie Plastics hires graduates and interns from Behrend’s plastics program and encourages employees to continue their education at the college. The company partnered with Penn State Behrend’s Plastics Technology Center to design a recycled plastic pallet that has become one of his company’s signature products. Mr. Witkowski and his wife, Jean, have four children. They are members of the President’s Club, the President’s Club Circle of Pride, the Glenhill Society, and the Mount Nittany Society. The Alumni Fellow program provides recipients with the opportunity to accept an invitation by the president of the University to share their knowledge and expertise with the College community. As leaders in their professions, Alumni Fellows add a dimension to the academic curriculum not available in the traditional college classroom. While meeting with students, Alumni Fellows stimulate thought, debate, and action, frequently pointing students toward previously unconsidered goals. The University's Board of Trustees has designated the title of Alumni Fellow as permanent and lifelong. |
