ODU Presents Distinguished Alumni Awards

Old Dominion University presented Distinguished Alumni Awards to seven former students Oct. 20 at the annual Founders’ Day luncheon.

The program also included the presentation of the Batten Award, given in recognition of philanthropic leadership; two Town-N-Gown Community Service Awards; and the Albert B. “Buck” Gornto Jr. Regional Service Award.

The 2006 Distinguished Alumni are:
• Alphonso V. Diaz (M.S. ’70) – Diaz, who earned his master’s in physics, became vice chancellor for administration at the University of California, Riverside, in January 2006 after a full career with NASA, which included a position as director of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
• Rear Adm. Charles H. Griffiths Jr. (M.E.M. ’05) – Following a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy, Griffiths joined Raytheon in 2002, where he currently is director of strategy and business development for maritime mission systems in Integrated Defense Systems. His master’s degree is in engineering management.
• Lenore E. Hart (M.F.A. ’00) – Hart is the author of several novels, including “Ordinary Springs” and “Waterwoman,” a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Authors selection. Her first young-adult novel, “The Treasure of Savage Island,” was published in 2005. She is a professor in the master’s program for creative writing at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
• Linda L. Lilley (M.S. ’84) – Lilley’s teaching experience spans 25 years, with the last 18 in the ODU School of Nursing. Now an associate professor emerita, she is finishing the fifth edition of “Pharmacology and the Nursing Process,” for which she is the lead author. Lilley also serves as an editorial contributor for articles submitted to the American Journal of Nursing.
• Thomas J. Murphy ’83 – Murphy is CEO of Athena Design Systems Inc., based in Santa Clara, Calif. The company tackles the problems that come with packing more and smaller transistors on a semiconductor. He joined Athena in 2005 after 12 years at Cadence Design Systems, the world’s largest chip-designing software company. He is the inventor of clock-tree synthesis, a process to improve chip performance. Murphy received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
• Deborah K. Stearns ’80 – Stearns, who joined Advantis/GVA in 1975, currently oversees three offices in Norfolk, Newport News and Richmond, offering brokerage, property management and construction services to third-party clients. The region’s offices employ 125 people and generated revenues of approximately $30 million in 2005. The chair of the ODU Real Estate Founda-tion, she received her bachelor’s degree in business administration.
• Ella P. Ward (M.S. ’93) – Ward was elected last year to the Chesapeake City Council, becoming only the second African American female to be elected to this office in the city’s history. Ward worked for 35 years in Portsmouth Public Schools as a teacher and administrator before retiring as assistant principal of Craddock Middle School in 2004. She was elected vice president of the Virginia Board of Education in 2006. Her master’s is in educational administration.