Our 2023 awards and scholarships were presented during our annual Spring Professional Development Conference. The awards were presented during a luncheon on March 9 in Lancaster. Congratulations to all of our deserving winners!

Don Hale Award Winner

Awarded annually to a CUPRAP member who has significantly contributed to the organization. The award is named in honor of Don Hale, CUPRAP’s second president, and for 20 years thereafter, editor of its newsletter.

Gabriel Welsch is vice president for marketing and communications at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. Prior to his appointment at Duquesne, Welsch served in executive functions at Juniata College: vice president for strategic communication and marketing, vice president for advancement and marketing, and interim vice president for enrollment. Welsch started his career in advancement communications for Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts, at the University Park campus, during which time he also was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English. He is past-president of the board of directors of CUPRAP. He has published four books of poems and one book of short stories.

 

 Arthur V. Ciervo Award Winner

John D. Simon was the 14th President of Lehigh University. Under his leadership, the University launched The College of Health, increased student enrollment, built new residential and academic facilities, and established a presence on the west coast through a partnership with the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center. Previously, John was Provost at the University of Virginia and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Duke University. John received his B.A. from Williams College and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. In 2021, John was awarded the Downtown Vision Award by the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce. In 2019, the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland awarded a silver Plus ratio quam vis medal for his role in collaborative research between Polish and American scientists.

 

 

2023 Diversity Scholarship Winner

Kai O’Brien, a resident of Havre De Grace, Maryland, is a sophomore mass communication major and music industry minor at York College of Pennsylvania. O’Brien maintains a 3.2 grade point average and is a sprinter on the York College track and field team. He aspires to use the skills he is learning from his mass communications studies to one day have his own talk show and bring his positivity to the world. A graduate of The John Carroll School in Bel Air, Maryland, he is the son of Erin O’Brien and Darrius Farley.

 

 

2023 Joseph W. Donovan Rising Star Winner

Logan Sweet graduated from Susquehanna University with a degree in public relations. Soon after, he joined Creagent Marketing, which specializes in travel, tourism and hospitality clients. Logan returned to his alma mater in 2019 as the associate director of advancement communication. He is the lead writer and project manager for the Office of Advancement and is responsible for developing and executing all communication strategies for each of the Advancement divisions, including annual fund, major gifts, planned gifts, stewardship and alumni relations. In his tenure, Susquehanna has enjoyed increased giving and the highest alumni engagement percentage in university history. He was promoted to director in 2022.

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