{"id":210862,"date":"2026-06-04T20:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T20:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/210862\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T20:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T20:27:11","slug":"gannon-university-to-celebrate-distinguished-alumni-during-homecoming-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/210862\/","title":{"rendered":"Gannon University to celebrate Distinguished Alumni during homecoming weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/talkerie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-8-1.png\" data-caption=\"Gannon University front gate. Photo Credit: Joel Natalie, TalkErie.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" class=\"entry-thumb td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-8-1-640x427.png\"   alt=\"\" title=\"Gannon Gate\"\/><\/a>Gannon University front gate. Photo Credit: Joel Natalie, TalkErie.com<\/p>\n<p>Gannon University will celebrate a distinguished group of alumni whose leadership, service and professional accomplishments have made a lasting impact on their communities and industries during the university\u2019s 2026 Homecoming and Family Weekend celebration. Representing<br \/>careers in education, ministry, law, athletics, nonprofit leadership and the arts, this year\u2019s honorees embody the values of excellence, compassion and service that continue to define the Gannon experience.<\/p>\n<p>Homecoming and Family Weekend will take place Thursday, Sept. 24, through Sunday, Sept. 27. The 2026 Distinguished Alumni recipients will be honored during a dinner on Friday, Sept. 25, in the Yehl Alumni Room.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s honorees are:<\/p>\n<p>Kathleen M. Gausman, \u201987 VMC, \u201992M<br \/>Retired, Associate Vice President for Student Development and Engagement<br \/>Gannon University<br \/>Bachelor of Science, Biology<br \/>Master of Science, Counseling Psychology<\/p>\n<p>Rona L. Nesbit \u201981<br \/>Special Advisor to the President<br \/>Pittsburgh Cultural Trust<br \/>Bachelor of Science, Accounting<br \/>Tracey R. McCants Lewis, Esq. \u201993<br \/>Chief Legal and Community Affairs Officer<br \/>Pittsburgh Penguins<br \/>Bachelor of Arts, Political Science<\/p>\n<p>Francis M. Maxin \u201964<br \/>Professor of Biology<br \/>Community College of Allegheny County<br \/>Bachelor of Arts, Biology<\/p>\n<p>As part of the Distinguished Alumni honors, a special award is presented in memory of Monsignor Wilfrid J. Nash to recognize alumni and friends of the university who uphold the ideals of faith and service in their life and work.<\/p>\n<p>The 2026 Monsignor Wilfrid J. Nash Award recipient is:<\/p>\n<p>Deacon Stephen J. Washek \u201990, \u201905M<br \/>Executive Director \u2013 Faith Formation<br \/>Diocese of Erie<br \/>Bachelor of Arts, Social Work<br \/>Master of Arts, Pastoral Studies<\/p>\n<p>The Distinguished Alumni Awards are presented by the Gannon University Alumni Board, the governing body of the Alumni Association. It is the highest honor an alumnus can receive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are proud to recognize this year\u2019s Distinguished Alumni honorees for the meaningful impact they have made through their leadership, service and professional accomplishments,\u201d said Brian Collingwood, Ph.D., vice president for University Advancement. \u201cTheir stories reflect the enduring values of a Gannon education and serve as an inspiration to our students, alumni and the entire university community. We are honored to celebrate their achievements during Homecoming and Family Weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Registration, lodging, and a full, hour-by-hour schedule of events will be made available closer to the fall on the official Gannon Alumni Homecoming page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gannon University front gate. Photo Credit: Joel Natalie, TalkErie.com Gannon University will celebrate a distinguished group of alumni&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-210862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}