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Welcome new trustees
Tracey A. Hanfling ’04
Hanfling is a managing director and client portfolio manager for real estate at Apollo Global Management, dedicated to the firm’s products for global wealth investors. She previously served as a managing director and member of the U.S. debt team at Bentall GreenOak (BGO). Hanfling has more than 20 years of institutional real estate experience, having worked on investment strategies across the capital stack in both the public and private markets.
Kevin G. Nealer
Nealer is a principal at
The Scowcroft Group, providing strategic risk advisory services and direct investment support to clients, specializing in financial services and trade policy issues for emerging markets, with emphasis on China and the Southeast. He previously led project finance and trade policy efforts at major consulting and legal firms. He has served on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (2014–2017), the OPIC Board (2010–2013), and advised on trade policy with the Senate Democratic Leadership.
James R. Renner ’91
Renner is vice president at Victaulic, a global designer and manufacturer of mechanical pipe-joining system solutions. He is responsible for the company’s global power, water, wastewater, desalination, and infrastructure markets. He previously held marketing leadership positions with companies in the architectural, construction, and building products industries, including Lutron Electronics, UGI Utilities, TK Theaters, and Domus Advertising. Renner serves on the Board of Advisors for the Construction Industry Institute.
Al Wilkins ’06
Wilkins is a professional in the education and technology industry. Most recently, he served as senior director of research advisory services at EAB, where he drove value creation and innovation for higher education partners. Wilkins successfully led high-performing teams to enhance operational efficiencies and cross-functional collaboration. He was a member of the College’s Alumni Board of Directors, serving as president from 2022–2025. He actively volunteers with D.C. organizations, including the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
New leadership
Lauren Meehan Keefe ’09 was named president of the Alumni Board of Directors. She is principal at Miles & Stockbridge P.C., representing mortgage lenders in commercial real estate financing transactions on properties across the country. She advises lenders in both market-rate and affordable-housing transactions that finance new construction, acquisition, and refinance loans utilizing a variety of financing structures. Keefe has served on the Alumni Board of Directors since 2018. She was recognized with the Gettysburg College Young Alumni Award for Service in 2024.
The following alumni are new members of these respective boards and councils:
Alumni Board of Directors
Andrew Ferreira ’12
Edmund Hardy ’09
William Huss ’75
James Moeller ’97
Emeriti Trustee
Advisory Committee
Jim Heston ’70
Mary Claire Lagno P’12
Joan Schweizer ’76
(New Voting Emeriti Trustee)
BOLD Council
Rush Ehrhart ’24
Caden Giordano ’23
Pipes Guice ’23
Caroline Heckman ’21
Andrew Lemon ’24
Anya Pant ’24
Juliette Rhinow ’25
New appointments
In February, the Gettysburg College Board of Trustees approved four appointments of faculty to endowed chairs and professorships: French Prof. Florence Ramond Jurney as the Kermit O. Paxton and Renee A. Paxton Endowed Teaching Chair, Biology Prof. Ryan Kerney as the Harold G. Evans Chair of Eisenhower Leadership Studies, Environmental Studies Prof. Rud Platt as the George E. Thompson Jr. Professor in Environmental Studies, and History Prof. Tim Shannon as the Edwin T. and Cynthia Shearer Johnson Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Humanities. Congratulations!
Collaborative workshops
Gettysburg College recently received a $15,900 collaborative grant from the Central Pennsylvania Consortium (CPC) for “Cultivating Attention and Engagement: Navigating Technology Use in the Liberal Arts Classroom.” This initiative supports faculty enrichment and education for navigating technology use in the classroom. East Asian Studies Prof. Junjie Luo, who directs Gettysburg’s Johnson Center for Creative Teaching and Learning (JCCTL), collaborated with Lee Franklin, a professor of philosophy and interim director of the Faculty Center at Franklin & Marshall College, to organize a workshop on digital distraction and hosted a discussion on topics related to classroom technology during the spring semester.
Sports success
In 2024-2025, the Bullets reached new heights, ranking 29th nationally in the annual Division III Learfield Directors’ Cup, our best-ever finish. The volleyball team earned its second consecutive bid to the NCAA Division III Championships. Both basketball squads went to the “Big Dance,” with the women marching to the “Elite 8” after claiming their fourth consecutive Centennial Conference title. Men’s and women’s golf won both team and individual conference titles before heading off to the national championships. Men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, and softball also danced through deep postseason runs at their NCAA Championships, while individual student-athletes qualified for nationals in women’s swimming, wrestling, and men’s track and field.
Empowering immigrant youth
Founder of Project Libertad, immigration lawyer Rachel Rutter ’11 was named one of the Top 5 CNN Heroes of the Year and was honored during the “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” hosted by Anderson Cooper and Laura Coates in December 2024. Over the last year, Project Libertad has assisted more than 1,100 people in their efforts to provide free legal representation, social services, and newcomer support programs to immigrant youth. She has represented more than 90 young people in immigrant cases as Project Libertad’s designated lawyer.
Illuminating insights
Just weeks before the release of her new album, “Owls, Omens, and Oracles,” and a two-month nationwide tour, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Valerie June spent three days engaging with College students and staff in April, as part of a residency sponsored by the Ann McIlhenny Harward Interdisciplinary Fund for Culture and Music at Gettysburg College and the Office of the Provost. June’s residency was entitled, “Black Country Music and the Art of Cultivating Community.”
Alumni awarded
This year’s recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award are COO of Transhealth, Celia E. Overby ’02; president of New Jersey Institute for Disabilities, Robert J. Ferrara ’75; professor and chair of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences, Robert P. Edwards ’79; and Attorney Gary W. Boguski ’74, P’15. The 2025 Young Alumni Achievement Award for Career Development recipients are Attorney Bryan J. Barth ’13 and vocalist Matthew A. Giallongo ’12. Victor T. Smith ’10, whom we celebrate posthumously and who had served on the Alumni Board of Directors, and Jaclynn A. Cross ’10, president of the Gettysburg Alumni of Color Council and 15th Reunion co-chair, are the recipients of the 2025 Young Alumni Achievement Award for Service. David R. Brennan ’75, P’00, who served on the Board of Trustees for 12 years, including five years as the chair, and James (Jim) N. Heston ’70, who also completed 12 years of service on the Board of Trustees, and former director on the Alumni Board and Reunion committee member, are the recipients of the Meritorious Service Award. Claudia Bard Veitch ’80, a loyal Reunion committee member, former director on the Alumni Board, and regional club volunteer, also received her 2020 Meritorious Service Award this year.
Gettysburg in Germany
In Spring 2026, Gettysburg College will launch a new faculty-led semester program in Bonn, Germany, at the Academy for International Education (AiB)—an initiative that reflects the College’s commitment to global learning and cross-cultural academic exploration. At the center of the first semester of the program is German Studies Prof. Henning Wrage, who will serve as the program’s inaugural residential director and teach an innovative course titled Machines, Monsters, and Moonscapes: Nature and Culture from Germany and the United States.
Enzyme research
The Community Science Program of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI) awarded Gettysburg College Chemistry Prof. Emily Dieter an in-kind grant to support plasmid research. Focusing on the biological function of radical SAM enzymes specifically found in methanogens, Dieter hopes to guide students in her research through Gettysburg’s Cross-Disciplinary Science Institute (X-SIG). Her research will offer a better understanding of methanogens, which produce the greenhouse gas methane and are often hard to study due to their extreme habitats.
Transforming lives
Dr. Brin Freund ’06 was featured on “Good Morning America” as part of its coverage of a groundbreaking treatment for epilepsy. Freund, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, served on the surgical team that placed a new FDA-cleared brain implant called NeuroOne in a teenage girl’s brain. The treatment can diagnose and treat epilepsy and prevent the occurrence of traumatic seizures.
Pursuing passion
Noa Leibson ’20 was inspired to pursue her dreams as a museum curator at the International Museum of the Horse in Lexington, Kentucky, by Art and Art History Prof. Felicia Else.
Intrigued by the topic of polychromy taught by Else, Leibson studied the color choices for the Antonine Wall for her dissertation at the Hunterian Museum in Scotland. She is writing a children’s book on Princess Kyniska of Sparta using what she learned from her art history thesis at Gettysburg.
On the field
As an all-time leading scorer at Gettysburg, Jordan Basso ’24 joined the Florida Gators women’s lacrosse team in Division I and was profiled by The Independent Florida Alligator. Scoring more than 100 points in three consecutive seasons at Gettysburg, Basso stood out to the Gainesville, Florida, team with her incredible dominance on the field and ability to adapt to any program.
Awarding excellence
Economics Prof. Brendan Cushing-Daniels was honored with The Dr. Ralph Cavaliere Endowed Teaching Award during Fall Honors Day on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. Cushing-Daniels, who has mentored countless students during his 30 years of teaching at Gettysburg, believes that teaching at Gettysburg is an honor. He is always eager to collaborate with students and faculty on research and currently serves as one of the co-chairs for Gettysburg’s new finance program.
Expanding horizons
Hundreds of students and alumni came together to learn virtually and across the globe as part of January Term (J-Term) and other immersion trips. Guided by the Center for Career Engagement, the Eisenhower Institute, the Center for Public Service, and the Garthwait Leadership Center, students traveled across the globe to gain firsthand knowledge about important issues and how organizations handle them. The Office of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving partnered with Gettysburg’s BOLD Council to host Alumni J-Term, providing virtual sessions focused on professional development, networking, and wellness.
Impactful photography
A photograph taken by Eric Lee ’15, a New York Times photojournalist, was named a finalist for Impact 2024: U.S. Presidential Race Picture of the Year. Lee’s photo captures the “mood, emotion, character, interaction, or campaign environment” during the U.S. presidential election. In March, Lee also won first place in the presidential category of the White House News Photographers Association’s Eyes of History contest.
Bloomberg Terminal
With the support of generous donors, Gettysburg College is establishing a 24/7 Bloomberg Terminal Lab located
in our College Union Building above the Bullet Hole. It will be ready for use in the Fall 2025 semester, during which students can declare as the first cohort of finance majors. This powerful software system provides real-time financial data, news, and analytics, and is widely used by financial professionals for trading, research, and analysis.
Leading voice
In the fall of 2024, Gettysburg College President Bob Iuliano began his term on the American Council on Education (ACE) Board of Directors. This membership organization mobilizes the higher education community to design solutions for today’s challenges. As an advocate for student access, Iuliano will take on a leadership role as higher education in America becomes even more essential for students today and tomorrow.
Contributions from Katie Lauriello ’25
Posted: 08/26/25