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MEADVILLE, Pa. – June 7, 2011 – Allegheny College presented awards to six alumni on Saturday, June 4, during the college’s annual Reunion Weekend.

The Rev. Dr. Don Covill Skinner, class of 1954, received the college’s oldest and most prestigious award, the Alumni Medal, in honor of his steadfast loyalty and many years of distinguished service to the college. Skinner was appointed Allegheny’s dean of students in 1978 and then chaplain in 1985. Following his retirement in 1993, he was named chaplain emeritus at the college and served for six years on Allegheny’s Alumni Council, where he chaired two committees.

Receiving the Blue Citation, awarded in recognition of outstanding service to Allegheny, were: Gail Howe Fahrner, class of 1956, who has coordinated reunion activities for her class and supported civic engagement initiatives involving Allegheny students and faculty; Dr. John Herbert Niles, class of 1959, who has served on the college’s Board of Trustees since 1992, chairing its student affairs committee; and John Sutphen, class of 1978, who has provided career opportunities for Allegheny students and chaired the college’s Annual Fund and Timothy Alden Council Executive Committee.

Receiving the Gold Citation, awarded in recognition of honor reflected on Allegheny by the recipients’ professional or volunteer activities, were: Nancy Jane McCune Edelman, class of 1950, who has held leadership positions in more than a dozen community and educational organizations, including the Fox Chapel Area School District; and Thomas Sadvary, class of 1975, who is president and CEO of Scottsdale Healthcare in Scottsdale, Ariz., and has served on the boards of several civic and professional organizations.

The 32nd oldest college in the nation, Allegheny College will celebrate its bicentennial in 2015. One of 40 schools featured in Loren Pope’s “Colleges That Change Lives,” Allegheny is among only 16 percent of liberal arts colleges nationally that require independent research and/or original creative work of all graduates.

Allegheny also is included among the 100 “best values” in liberal arts colleges in the nation, according to Kiplinger’s, a private financial advising company. Ninety percent of Allegheny alumni seeking employment start a career within eight months of graduation, and the college ranks in the top 5 percent of schools nationally whose students go on to earn Ph.D.s.