HES to honor Distinguished Alumni Award recipients

Thursday, October 19, 2006

The College of Human Environmental Sciences (HES) is honoring retired U. S. Army Colonel Jessie Brewer (’66), Laura Britt (’92), and John Cornyn (‘68) as this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipients along with physician Mark Snell, an honorary HES alumnus. The four will be recognized during a luncheon ceremony today with three alumni who’ve been selected by the college as Rising Star Award recipients for 2006. The Rising Star honorees include Lisa Brown, Kimberly Sasser and Kerry Williams.
 
Distinguished Alumni

Jessie Brewer
     Retired U.S. Army Colonel Jessie Brewer’s distinguished military career led her from Walter Reed Hospital to the Office of the Surgeon General. Brewer received her master’s degree in foods, nutrition, and institutional management from OSU in 1966 after serving as staff dietitian at military hospitals, including Walter Reed in Washington and Tripler in Honolulu. After graduation Brewer directed the food service divisions for U.S. Army medical facilities at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, Camp Drake in Japan, the 68th Medical Corps in Viet Nam and Fitzsimmons General Hospital in Denver.  
     Brewer served nine years in the Office of the Surgeon General, starting as the career manager for dietitians, physical and occupational therapists. She was named chief dietitian for the Office of the Surgeon General, providing policy advice on matters concerning nutrition, dietetics, physical therapy, and occupational therapy for all branches of the military. Brewer then served as chief of the Army Medical Specialists in the Office of the Surgeon where she directed policy on nutrition and therapists in the Army.
     Brewer has received the Meritorious Service Award, the Bronze Star Award and the Legion of Merit Award.  She appeared in Connie Stevens’ 1997 documentary “A Healing” about women who served in Viet Nam. A 46-year member of the American Dietetic Association, Brewer has remained active in veterans groups serving as post commander of the American Legion Post 612 and in civilian activities building six houses for Habitat for Humanity. Brewer is also a member of the International Women Veterans Golf Association. She resides in San Antonio, Texas.

Laura Britt
     Laura Britt, 1992 interior design graduate, began her career as a civilian employee handling interior design and architecture projects on large scale, multi-million facilities for the U.S. Air Force.
     In 2000, she earned her Masters in Architecture with a Sustainable Design Focus from the University of Texas. After completing an architectural internship, she started her own design firm, laura britt design in 2001. The Austin, Texas firm provides residential and commercial interior design and architecture.
     Britt’s highly successful company has received numerous awards from the American Society of Interior Designers and was chosen as the design firm for “Cooking Light” magazine’s annual FitHouse in 2005.  The house was designed with an eclectic mix of local and national environmentally sustainable products. Britt and her husband, Jeff, are the parents of Ethan Britt Capra six months.
 
John Cornyn
     John Cornyn’s 1968 degree in hotel and restaurant administration launched him into a career that includes significant management and consulting.  After graduation, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the United States Army, where Cornyn got his start managing the officers’ dining and entertainment facilities at military installations in Georgia and Viet Nam.  
     Following his work in the Army, Cornyn managed all aspects of a large Chicago area restaurant before assuming administrative responsibility for 15 Zenith Radio Corporation cafeterias, now managed by Aramark.
     Cornyn began his consulting career with Pannell, Kerr, Forster and Company in Chicago, performing feasibility and market research studies for proposed hotel and restaurants. In 1975, he founded his own food service management consulting firm, the Cornyn Fasano Group in Portland Oregon. As a management and operations consultant, Cornyn conducts market/feasibility studies, prepares requests for proposals, analyzes and evaluates existing self and contractor operated foodservice programs and educates clients on the finer points of successfully administering their foodservice programs.
     The Cornyn Fasano Group currently serves over 300 clients and includes food service operations for Fortune 500 companies, universities, museums and public institutions across the nation. Cornyn is a frequent speaker at industry meetings and, along with his partner Joyce Coons Fasano, has written what is considered the ultimate book on the topic, “Noncommercial Foodservice: An Administrator’s Handbook.” He is also a frequent contributor to numerous trade publications.
     Cornyn serves on the Board of Trustees of the Foodservice Consultant Society International and the OSU School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration’s Board of Advisors.  Cornyn and his wife Joyce Coons Fasano have been business partners for over 28 years and married for over 7 years. They reside in Portland, Oregon.
 
 

 

 

Honorary Alumnus

 

  Dr. Mark Snell graduated from OSU with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1973 and a Doctor of Osteopathy degree from OSU in 1977. Snell practices medicine in Clinton, Missouri where he is an osteopathic family physician.
     Born into a Cowboy family, his lifelong support of OSU is inspired by memories of attending football games and wrestling matches with his family when he was a child. He continues to follow his family’s tradition and still regularly returns from his home in Missouri, to Stillwater to support OSU.  
     Inspired by childhood memories of his family’s overnight stays in the then Student Union Hotel, Snell has been a founding supporter of recent renovations to the Atherton Hotel and the Ranchers Club restaurant.  He has fond memories of the hotel combine with the excitement he has for seeing it used as a practical teaching experience for hotel and restaurant students.  “It’s a great place for students to learn what first-class luxury hotels  and fine dining experiences are like, and what it takes to work in those types of establishments,” he said.  
     Because of his passion for all things OSU, the College of Human Environmental Sciences is proud to call Dr. Mark Snell an alumnus.
 

 

 

Rising Stars

Kimberly Sasser Bandelier
     Kimberly Sasser Bandelier graduated with highest honors from Oklahoma State University in 2001 from Nutritional Sciences with a degree in dietetics.  While attending OSU, she was active in research, inducted into Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and named Outstanding Student for CHES, Oklahoma Outstanding Dietetics Student, OSU Outstanding Senior Woman, and a Truman Scholar.  
     After completing an internship and earning a masters in public health from the University of Texas Bandelier began work at Memorial Hermann Hospital as a clinical dietitian, managing medical nutrition for patients.  
     She now serves the Texas Department of State Health Services as a manager for the Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Prevention program and the statewide Childhood Obesity surveillance program.
     Bandelier received the American Dietetic Certification in Adult Weight Management in 2005. Forever Orange is fitting for Kim since she met her husband Derrick at an OSU Alumni Association event in Houston.  The couple is very active with the Austin Chapter of the OSU Alumni Association.
 

 

 

Kerry Williams
  Kerry Williams has been praised as one of the best in her field. The 1996 Apparel Merchandising graduate began her career as an area sales manager at Dillards before accepting the position she holds today as a store manager for Bath and Body Works in Glendale, Arizona.
     In 2005, Williams was named the Store Manager of the Year among all 1,600 Bath and Body Works stores. She is responsible for managing all aspects of the high profile store, which employs a staff of 50 associates along with training managers in the region and analyzing financial data to increase sales and productivity.
     Williams has also received the National Le Couvent des Minimes for top sales of a new product and the Reflection Award for sales and leadership skills.  Kerry and her husband Todd reside in Cave Creek, Arizona with their 5-month old son Ryan.
 

 

 

Lisa Brown
     Lisa Brown graduated with high honors on her way to earning a degree in apparel design and production from design, housing and merchandising in 1999. 

Brown’s experiences in fashion design and production as well as merchandising began before graduation as a research assistant at the University of Nebraska Omaha, where she researched adolescent females’ clothing interests.  
     She also gained experience at Kohl’s Department Store in Kansas City merchandising and managing the entire boy’s department for a grand opening.  
     During her apparel design internship at Buster Brown Apparel  Inc., she developed girls apparel by selecting fabrics, creating artwork and completing designs for samples.
     After graduation, Brown’s career began with the Healthtex division of  Vanity Fair Corporation. She was responsible for the development of various children’s product lines. Her position as the infant and toddler boy’s designer at Target Corporation, included research, design and creative direction.
Brown is currently the designer for JC Penney’s Arizona Girl line of apparel for young girls. She is responsible for the research, development and production of  trends in fabric, styling and fit.  She also is the co-owner of Wet Dog Designs, which specializes in graphic, textile and apparel design. Lisa lives in Frisco, Texas and soon will be married.