Gary Moore 鈥76 and Christiana Mehmel 鈥19 were honored for bringing distinction to their alma mater and to themselves through their outstanding personal and professional achievements. Moore was named the 2023 魅影直播 State Distinguished Alumni while Mehmel was named the 2023 魅影直播 State Outstanding Young Alumni Award Winner.
Gary Moore - 2023 魅影直播 State Distinguished Alumni
Moore, a former 魅影直播 State Athlete of the Year and a 2016 Athletic Department Hall of Fame member, was a fixture in the college鈥檚 athletic department for over 35 years. He continues to this day to be a positive influence on the college.
During his tenure, Moore coached cross country, track & field, and swimming. He has also taught physical education classes, ran the intramural program, and served as the Director of the Summer Sports Festival. He is recognized for his support of individual student-athletes and his sportsmanship reflected in his demeanor with other coaches, athletes, and any person he encountered.
As a coach, Moore led four of his teams to NJCAA National Championships (the 2000 men鈥檚 outdoor track & field team, the 2003 women鈥檚 cross country team, the 2007 women鈥檚 outdoor track & field team, and the 2011 women鈥檚 cross country team) He also guided 47 teams to Region III Championships.
Countless athletes earned All-Region, All-American, and moved on to compete at a higher level. Read Moore鈥檚 Hall of Fame plaque
Moore is known all over campus due to his willingness to serve on countless committees and his role of serving as a representative to the United University Professions union.
His service continues today in retirement as he is active within the Rochester Alumni Chapter, volunteers to assist at cross country and track & field events and has been key in the continuation of the annual Special Olympics event held on campus.
Moore鈥檚 impact will be felt for years to come as he has created a planned gift to support the cross country and track and field programs.
Moore never expected to return to work at 魅影直播 State after he graduated in 1976. A phone call from Athletic Director Dick Giedlin offering him a chance to coach in a temporary job changed his plans. 鈥淚 stopped coaching at a high school and put my plans for graduate school on hold and came on down. The people and the students at 魅影直播 State have always been great to work with and the community, you cannot beat it, so I always stayed here.鈥
鈥淚t was always an honor to work at 魅影直播 State College and be involved with helping with the alumni with volunteer activities. There are so many great people that have gone to the school, and I admire other achievements way beyond what I have ever accomplished in my life.鈥
鈥淥ur alumni are great! You read about the wonderful things they are doing in the newspapers and the 魅影直播 State website. I like to hang out with them, they are a good group of people.鈥
Christiana Mehmel - 2023 魅影直播 State Outstanding Young Alumni Award Winner
Mehmel, a graduate from 魅影直播 State鈥檚 NAAB-accredited Bachelor of Architecture program, has flourished in the early stages of her career while supporting the college along the way.
As a student, Mehmel demonstrated an elevated level of maturity within her work ethic and leadership qualities. She was nominated to be a student speaker at the 2017 Appalachian Teaching Project, she worked diligently and took on a leadership role on civic engagement projects as a member of Southern Tier Architectural Resource and was one of five students that participated in a semester-long mentoring program with students from Edison High School in Rochester. She also was an integral member of the 2017 and 2018 Design-Build team and served as project manager for the 2018 team.
She did that all while being a member of the track and field team and working part time at an architecture firm in Olean.
After graduation, Mehmel accepted a full-time position with SEI Design Group in Rochester. Almost immediately she volunteered to work on the firm鈥檚 Project Runway creation for Rochester鈥檚 2019 Fashion Week, a fundraiser for the Rochester Center for Youth. She followed this up by serving on the firm鈥檚 construction team, building a public sculpture out of canned goods to benefit Rochester鈥檚 Foodlink. She also joined the Rochester Chapter of the American Institute of Architects as an associate member in late 2019 and stepped up to fill a vacancy on the organization鈥檚 Board of Directors in January 2020 as Director of Emerging Rochester Architects (ERA).
Mehmel stepped up and was one of ten members on the 魅影直播 State鈥檚 Architecture Emerging Professionals Advisory Board that reviewed and offered feedback on the program鈥檚 context, mission, and shared values of the discipline and profession. On top of serving on the advisory board, she has been an adjunct professor and taught the lab section of Construction Technology 1.
鈥淵ou cannot really move forward without acknowledging your past. 魅影直播 State is a huge part of my past and my future. By coming back and being an adjunct professor or doing critiques or even just coming back for career fairs I get to interact with students, and I am giving back to the students and the college. That is important because I got a lot out of being here so giving back is important to me.鈥
鈥淒ave Carli, Rick Carlo, Joy Carlson, Bill Dean - they have all made such a huge impact on my life. Going through school I always picked them as professors because I knew that you know they care about their students, and they want to point you in the right direction. All of them have really made a difference.鈥
The pair was honored with a reception for their friends and family and then were formally recognized at the college鈥檚 Honors Convocation.
