Alumni Awards

2023 Alumni Award Winner

Judge Rachel Ezzell Berry was elected to a ten-year term on the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas in 2023. She is currently assigned to the Family Law Division. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges Artificial Intelligence (AI) Task Force and the Delaware County “Meet Your Judges” community outreach committee.

Judge Berry grew up in Delaware County and graduated from Strath Haven High School. She received her AS degree with highest honors from Delaware County Community College, where she was a Pell Grant recipient. She received her BBA degrees summa cum laude in Economics and International Business with Spanish minor from Temple University. She received her JD degree magna cum laude, Order of the Coif from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was a merit scholarship recipient and Book Review Editor of the Michigan Law Review. Her legal scholarship has been cited in multiple legal journals including the Harvard Law Review and Yale Law Journal.

Prior to her election to the judiciary, Judge Berry was the Delaware County Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans’ Court, having been appointed by the Delaware County Council in 2020 and elected to a full term in 2021. She previously practiced in the complex litigation departments of several international law firms handling multi-district matters, class actions, and appellate litigation. She was Law Clerk to the Hon. David McKeague of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the Hon. Robert J. Jonker of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, and the Hon. Stephanie H. Klein of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, as well as Judicial Intern to the Hon. Gene E.K. Pratter of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Judge Berry’s community service includes having served as Chair of the Delaware County Economic Development Oversight Board, President of the Women in the Law Section of the Delaware County Bar Association, and Director of the Delaware County Bar Association.

The Wong Moss Outstanding Alumni Award

This award recognizes distinguished alumni for their outstanding professional, community, and educational accomplishments. It was created by the late Barbara Wong Moss, a former College trustee, and her son John in honor of her father, an immigrant from China who believed in the value of education. To qualify, the nominee must have successfully completed at least 30 academic credits at the College.

Anyone, including faculty and staff, may submit nominations. Alumni may also nominate themselves. Nomination form for the Wong Moss Outstanding Alumni Award. 

Past Winners

2022 – Dr. James Plummer
2021 – George Shadrach Kamanda ’14
2019 – Honorable John R. Bailey ’96
2018 – Captain Matthew LeTourneau ’95 (posthumous)
2017 – Cheryl Colleluori ’04
2016 – Dr. Rosa Cooper ’04
2015 – Jeanie Heffernan ’84
2014 – Louis Belliace ’87
2013 – Denise Romanelli ’94		2012 – Joseph Oaster Jr. ’89
2011 – Stephen Brown (ALCR ’80)
2008 – Joseph F. McGinn ’75
2007 – Robert M. Madonna ’74
2005 – Edward DiPilla ’85
2004 – Nicholas A. Pacitti ’73
2003 – George Hettenbach ’79
2002 – Wilma Fernandez Charles ’92
2001 – James Mendez ’93
2000 – Robert B. Oliver ’73		1999 – Mitchel Robbins ’74
1998 – Kenneth J.D. Boyden ’84
1997 – The Hon. W. Curtis Weldon ’73
1996 – B. Rena Huntsman ’78
1995 – John DiBuonaventuro ’75
1994 – Carol Cunningham Base ’83
1993 – Thomas J. Davis ’74
1992 – Kathleen Breslin Walker ’88
1991 – Jacqueline Butcher ’91
1990 – James Reaves ’76

Alumni Professional Achievement Award

The Alumni Professional Achievement Award annually recognizes Delaware County Community College graduates who are accomplished in their profession, having demonstrated a significant level of distinction within their chosen field. To qualify, the nominee must have successfully completed at least 15 academic credits at the College.

Anyone, including faculty and staff, may submit nominations. Alumni may also nominate themselves. Nomination form for Alumni Professional Achievement Award.

Past Winners

2023 – Scott Sauer ’03
Chief Operating Officer for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)

2021 – Sharon White ’14
CEO of Grip Dynamics LLC

2020 – Enrique Latoison, Esq. ’01
Founding and Managing Partner, Latoison Law

2019 – Gwendolyn McCullough ’18
Chief of Staff to Rep. Mike Zabel (D-163)

2018 – Habibah Sulayman Smith MS ’04
Project Specialist, US Department of Health and Human Services’ Runaway and Homeless Youth Program

2017 – Francis X. Shields ’80 
Owner, Executive, Advisory Services 

2016 – Dr. Luli Akinfiresoye ’04
Pharmacologist, United States Drug Enforcement Administration		2015 – Melissa Maani ’94
Graphic Designer, Philadelphia Phillies

2014 – Dr. Dori Lawson ’03
Nurse Practitioner, Cardiology Associates of West Reading

2013 – Frank J. McKee ’70
President of The McKee Group

2012 – Laura Kasper ’84
Chief Executive Officer, Monarch Staffing

2011 – Robert F. Downey ’74
Former Assistant Special Agent in Charge FBI Philadelphia Field Office

2010 – Jane Griffin ’82
Information Assurance Manager, National Air & Space Intelligence Center

 		2009 – Susan F. Haindl ’84
Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, Essential Utilities, Inc.

2008 – Robert R. Mandos, Jr. ’78
Senior Vice President and Controller, AMETEK

2007 – Mel Lindauer ’81
Financial advisor, author, business entrepreneur

2006 – James Benoit, Jr. ’95
Owner Benoit Czarnecki Design/Construction LLC

2005 – Linda Vona-Davis, Ph.D. ’74
Associate Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery, West Virginia University

2004 – Keith Huss, Ph.D. ’81
Principal Analyst, Abbott Bioresearch Center

2003 – Moira G. Kelly ’75
Senior Trust Advisor, PNC Wealth Management

2002 – John Mulvaney
Master of Fine Arts, Boston University, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial, Foundation of New York Fellowship